V.A / A YEAR OF MULE ELECTRONIC

Label : Mule Electronic / Cat No. : MED03
Format : Compilation CD / Released : 22 Apr 2006
Style : Minimal, Techno, Dub

As soon as "A Year of Mule Electronic" starts up Saiko Tsukamoto takes us by the hand and leads us on a melancholic journey with a piano solo evoking images of rain drops rolling gracefully down a window pane. Half expecting the window pane to be obliterated by a banging bassline it comes as a surprise to find that Koss instead has built a robot and programmed it to bring us a cup of hot cocoa and a place a blanket gently over our knees. Jeff Milligan's remix of 'Eleven' is the friend who phones up late at night and invites us out on the town to take our minds off serious thoughts.

The title of track four says it all, 'Freak Dancer Lets Go'. This tin can symphony created by Microesfera will have your feet moving with spasmodic rhythm. Next up is Kosuke Anamizu who is most definitely on the same page as Microesfera. The clings and clangs continue but this time come accompanied by a warped female vocal. If these past three tracks cleared our minds of any previous introspection then Koss' return brings those thoughts flooding back with a feint piano and echoing synths. But this is still music for the dance floor and as soon as the robust sounds of Thomas Fehlmann's remix of 'Cliff' penetrate our skulls then our heads are forced downwards as our bodies swing hypnotically like a metronome.

An element of euphoria creeps in now with Code E serving up a generous portion of ambience. Now, with heads lifted we start to notice all the colours and shapes around us but of course our bodies are never allowed to stop moving. Nothing about this track hints at the fact that Code E is also a video game sound programmer. While the ambience is quickly removed by Pan/tone's 'Thrill Ho' we are still left with a feeling of overwhelming joy. This is music than can put a cheesy grin on anyone's face. Dublee's back for a third time and this time with the help of Lawrence on the remix we are led out of the club, onto the street and into a cab home. It's 5am and as the empty streets shoot past the sun rises slowly over the horizon. 'The Last Night of Lasse Braun' is the last thing we listen to as we drift off to sleep, the monosyllabic vocals and bouncy rhythm conjuring up dreams of first kisses, kittens and lollipops.

From the title of this compilation we can only imagine that Mule Electronic simply hoped to demonstrate what they had managed to achieve over the year 2005. What they have actually managed to create is an accurate portrait of an entire night out on the town starting on a dreary afternoon and not ending until our head has hit the pillow. The journey this CD will take you on may even have you fooled that this is the work of a single artist rather than a collection of works from a label's catalogue. (Nick Lawrence)

Tracklisting
1.Saiko Tsukamoto / Water Echo
2.Koss / Ra1030 (Koss Snowing Remix)
3.Dublee / Eleven (Jeff Milligan Remix)
4.Microesfera / Freak Dancer Let's Go (Mike Shannon Remix)
5.Kosuke Anamizu / Yoja (Metaboman Remix)
6.Koss / Ra1030in (Karafuto aka Fumiya Tanaka Remix)
7.Dublee / Cliff (Thomas Fehlmann)
8.Code e / Nalysis and Evaluations
9.Pan/tone / Thrill Ho
10.Dublee / Sun Sets (Lawrence Remix)
11.Wechsel Garland / The Last Night of Lasse Braun