BPitch

Most of the time that I write about electronic music on 17 Dots, I tend to write to convince the indie rockers or the classical heads about the possible crossover potential of some of my favorite tunes. I’m fully cognizant that some of this stuff just never is going to connect with some people, but I’m really excited today to see that someone that already has crossed over has made their way to eMusic en masse. BPitch Control: thank you for making my job ever so simple.

The main artist that I’m talking about, of course, is the one pictured above: Ellen Allien. Orchestra Of Bubbles, her collaboration last year with Apparat, was lauded by Pitchfork’s Philip Sherburne (eMusic’s resident electronic columnist, as well) as sounding “like some crazy amusement park ride. [One where] you feel yourself ascending and descending at the same time…a simultaneous come-up and come-down, a combo rocket takeoff and marshmallow-factory landing.” Try out “Turbo Dreams” (album version, single version) to find out exactly what he’s talking about.

BPitch is Allien’s brainchild and she hasn’t been shy about releasing her own solo records on the imprint. Luckily, it’s not some vanity project – both her second and third solo albums (Berlinette and Thrills, respectively) have a number of songs (songs, not tracks – Allien is very much a songwriter, which is one of the things that makes her far more accessible than most electronic producers) that won me over. I like Berlinette far better than her follow-up and “Abstract Pictures” is definitely the one to get here (although plenty of people will rep for “Trash Scapes” or “Sehnsucht”).

There are plenty of people on the label that are making dance dance music, I should note. Tomas Andersson, for example, may not be your cup of tea but for sheer anthemic cheese you’d be hard pressed to beat “Happy Happy” (“Washing Up” comes in a close second, though). And for those checking out the Ed Banger crew these days, do yourself a favor and check out Feadz’s early work: his cracked, shattered, and distorted electro is oddly infectious. Ben Klock (“Point Blank”) and Sascha Funke (his cover of Bros (yes, that Bros, “When Will I Be Famous?”) are both perfect for minimal fans. And there are tons more that I simply haven’t listened to enough to form much of an opinion on, but have their adherents so I’m going to list them anyway (Kiki, Smash TV, Paul Kalkbrenner, Modeselektor). Phew.

I’m off to familiarize myself with those artists that I haven’t heard. How about you?