[Perspectiv]

Ripperton and Sam K have run a pretty tight ship the past couple of years with the Perspectiv label. They’ve given exposure to the audible charms of their Swiss compatriots and helped push a deep, emotive flavor of techno at the same time. Family Tree II is the second full length artist sampler for the label and with any luck it will become an annual event.

With no double ups from any of the artists here we get fourteen fresh tracks from the likes of Dana Ruh, Minz, Agnès, Estroe and the two label bosses themselves. Agnès opens the album with “Que Pena,” a bumping tech-houser set off against icy delays and an incoherent vocal worming it’s way into the track about half way through. It’s possessed of good momentum and is finely balanced between the housey bass line and more techno oriented synths. Dachshund’s “Persona” holds layers of atonal frequencies around the bottom end that give the track a distorted sense of space, which tied together with an even more unintelligible snatch of vocals makes it positively druggy. There are meticulous sound details and fills all over the place; and though the track doesn’t seem to have much direction it’s excellently executed. The minimal side of the Perspectiv ethos is catered to by Dana Ruh’s “Funkey,” simply combining a warm, muted bass sound with a couple of brief synth keys and some snappy percussion. Douglas Greed opts for a more foreboding techno angle with the brooding string and pad-fueled “Nordlicht,” while Estroe furthers this mood on “Winter Depressie” by patching a yearning, hopeful melody through a bleak tundra of low tuned chords and pitched down percussion.

While the first half of Family Tree carries an upbeat feel to it the latter portion focuses on the late night side of things. Minz, who became fairly well known in techno circles for his Perspectiv-released “Chinese Drip,” whips up a dark, laid back house number that makes good use of some deep, rounded out lower frequencies and higher percussion notes. Relative newcomers Polymorphin almost invoke a lighters-up anthem feeling with the rotund, blunted grooves of “Balloon Farm,” and Sam K provides perhaps the compilation’s standout cut with “Anderung,” an impossibly thoughtful, low slung cut that would bring any sunrise set to life. It’s damned hard in fact to find a duff track amongst the fourteen presented here; each one will appeal to slightly different tastes. Perspectiv affirms beyond any doubt their Family Tree has incredibly strong roots.

[Perspectiv]

Ripperton and Sam K’s label Perspectiv got its start in late 2006/early 2007, just as the former was approaching his peak popularity. The imprint pointed its new found limelight at a cast of relative unknowns like Minz, Ndru, Lucy, October and Dachshund, among others. But as Ripperton’s popularity waned post-Lazy Fat People, so did listeners’ appetite for his label’s fresh-faced selection and its singles have gone by mostly unnoticed. That’s a shame, because the end of 2008 was an especially fertile time for Perspectiv, which released a tasty platter from Dana Ruh (backed by an equally sumptuous Agnès remix) and Christian Vance’s debut, the “Tiger Snake EP.”

For a first timer, Vance’s sound is surprisingly detailed and well developed. A sparkling progression opens “Tiger Snake” carrying a sleek and winding mid-range riff in its wake, its attack growing ever sharper. Wriggling tones and tense pads notch up the pressure until a breakdown strips things back to square one. Some might dismiss Vance’s sound as too reminiscent of Carl Craig, but they’re missing out on the charged atmosphere “Tiger Snake” ushers onto the dance floor (and these days C2 is too busy with more artsy pursuits to churn out floor-fillers). Quarion manages to do “Tiger Snake” one better while maintaining its wide angle approach. By reducing the original elements to a fluttering loop churning in the background, he makes room for a Chicago-influenced bass line, syncopated plucks and a bright synth lead to get dancers grinning. Taken together it’s incredibly effective and ranks among Quarion’s best remixes. Minz’s “Rattlecat” remix is the least compelling of the bunch but doesn’t slouch, rolling the bass notes into squishy progressions and firing off distorted chords that fizzle and flare. It’s perhaps too early to say Perspectiv is mounting a comeback, as singles this solid make you wonder what you’ve been missing all along.