The first installment in !K7's Tapes series, curated by the Rapture, was an eclectic mix of retro and recent club-ready material that shed light on the band's feral beginnings as well as their more carefully pruned popwise output. It established a precedent for the Berlin-based electronic label's series: at their best, these compilations serve as both a living document of the artist's inspirations and the progression of their sound, as well as a testament to their tastemaking abilities.
Milo Cordell, one half of the post-Britpop duo the Big Pink, uses this second entry in the Tapes series as an introduction to the sounds gathered under the loose banner of witch house. Showcasing bands like Salem, GR†LL GR†LL, oOoOO, and Balam Acab, Cordell mostly proves just how hard he's pressed his ear to the ground in 2010. For the most part, he picks some of the juiciest bits of the syrupy, spooked-out electronic movement: From Balam Acab's gorgeous, ethereal "See Birds (Moon)" to the monstrous, chillingly drab early Salem cut "Dirt", it's clear that Cordell is no casual listener, able to prudently pluck from several sides of the sound's spectrum. When he's at his best, his curatorial skills may even provoke a bit of second-guessing from the genre's naysayers-- the appeal of this music is easy to understand.
The problem is, the music is presented with a blend of other styles; it's too haphazard to define a clear statement. Cordell himself admits that much of this music "has never been released on a CD, it's just out there on the Internet." And yet he fails to grasp the irony of combining such diverse elements here: This is not music crafted for a DJ-style mix; its chilly sound is simply better suited to floating in the cold, crystalizing ethers of cyberspace. By haphazardly lumping it in with material that has nothing to do with witch house per se, a lot of its impact is lost.
Cordell includes choice bits of dubstep (Joker's bounce epic "Snake Eater"), minimalist electro (Actress' "Hubble"), and a few oddball tracks that, even at their most ridiculously lame (Sewn Leather's glue-huffing-comedown jam "Smoke Ov the Pvnk"), feel entertaining. But aside from the inclusion of like-minded artists the xx and Gang Gang Dance (their excellent remix of the Big Pink's "Velvet" makes an appearance), it's anyone's guess as to why the the Big Pink moniker is on the front of this thing-- there's no consistency to tie it to a single group's sound. Instead, this installment of Tapes feels like the decent mix of a guy with good taste, a broadband connection, and a little experience with the crossfade knob.
