Someone tell Aphex Twin and BoC that full reclusiveness is out for legendary electronic musicians; instead, Berlin producer Pole a.k.a. Stefan Betke is fostering a new sort of artist-fan relationship, one where the artist remains tacitly on the scene, but then, like an actual snake that exists with a tail that looks like a spider, the artist strikes (with music) at opportune moments!
Betkan could be considered lying in wait as the founder and operational head of Pole Records since 2011, but it’s been a whopping eight years since Pole released Steingarten, his last LP and therefore his last full-length aural display of obscure and engaging dub techno. And going back even further, it’s been 15 years since the release of the third in the numerically-titled trilogy 1 2 3, though I doubt those of us who have listened are inclined to forget its quality any time soon. The trilogy as a whole is an arguable classic. It’s what had a lot of us keeping our ears to the ground in anticipation of any Polish developments.
Forget the political haps in Warsaw though; Pole has just announced a new full-length Wald (the German word for “forest”), set for release in mid-September on his own Pole label. The album is described as one 50-minute piece divided into three acts, which are themselves comprised of three tracks each. Not much to report beyond that, but listen to a couple of album “snippets” below, and review the three scheduled North American shows below that:
Dates:
05.31.15 - Montreal, QC - Mutek Festival *
06.04.15 - Seattle, WA - Kremwork *
06.07.15 - Boston, MA - Middlesex *
* visuals from MFO
• Pole: http://pole-music.com
• Pole: http://www.kompakt.fm/labels/pole
More about: Pole
