Twenty tracks of off-beat techno pack this label sampler, with chill vocals, dribbled beats, stiff clicks, and melting synths drifting together. Bits of chipbreak, acid house, electro, and other flavors bubble up from the dozen or so contributing acts, and while the tempos and action occasionally become frenzied, the music rarely loses its sense of controlled cool. That also helps bind the diverse tracks together across their range of fluctuations and stutters, building a sense of the label’s style on the whole (extensive sampling of Kid Rock associate Joe C. in Housemeister’s “Do You Wanna Funk” aside).
One of the strongest points in the compilation’s favor, though, is the openness the musicians show to bringing in single points of divergence to the rest of the song’s shaping, like the injection of Mediterranean strings into electro, or post-punk bass lick loops combed into house rhythms. Though few of the featured artists have stuck with the label to the current day (with owner Ellen Allien’s plentiful output being the prime exception), the general attitude of the music gives a clear sense of how BPitch Control presented themselves at the time, even with the quick turn-about offered by the musical switch-ups.
Scrambled Brains 