(Compost / Creative Vibes)

Compilations are always a bit of a lucky dip, especially when they’re sampling a label you’re not familiar with. ‘Freshly Composted’ features artists from the German label Compost, many of which are first time CD appearances. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what it sounds like. Mostly a shabby and forgettable listen, the inventive packaging is the best thing this CD has to offer.

The disc opens with promise to the breaks of Ben Mono. Featuring the husky and soulful vocals of Bajka, ‘Protection (Sirius Mo Remix)’ finds the funky middle ground between breaks and house, and splashes on a Moloko-esque dark cabaret melody. Next, General Electrics’ collaboration with Lateef the Truth Speaker on ‘Facing that Void’ irritates and seriously undermines the vocalist’s skills. The bed track is tedious to say the least, a recurring problem throughout the disc. Lauren Garnier’s remix of Alex Attias presents Mustang never realizes its potential, with it’s Grace Jones meets  Zap Mama vocals. The track simply becomes overcrowded after a lengthy intro that promised depth and sophistication with its syncopated synthesizers.

The following tracks blow it with their shabby production, busy arrangements, or dissonance in place of melodic and harmonic sensibilities. The later never comes to close to the ‘cool’ dissonance that jazz can frequently achieve, it’s simply off key and annoying. Product.01 should become a case-study in the the ultimate sin: producing an appalling remix of an originally appalling Blondie song, ‘Heart ov Glass’. Pass me a bucket, somebody.

The peculiar percussive samples in Truby Trio’s ‘New Music’ pricked my interest, but lost it again ninety seconds later. Perrey & Kingsley were doing this stuff better in the 1950’s when sampling was invented, and I have the record to prove it! This track meanders without any sense of direction, and again suffers from frequent overcrowding in the arrangement. Ben Mono attempts to pull something of a Roots Manuva next, with the help of rapper ‘Capital A’ on ‘Transmission’ but falls on his face. Offbeat, synth-driven hip hop has never sounded so forced, crude and awkward. The tedium is lifted by the funky House work of Intuit (featuring Cecile Verny with their Raw Deal Remix of ‘Peace of Mind’. This track is a shuffley space-funk jam that lifts my hopes for Compost with its sassy vocals, choice electric piano chords, wicked squelchy synths and deep, funky bass line. Mix in a strong melody and you have a recipe for dance floor domination. Keep your eyes on this crew!

Alif Tree drops a contrasting slice of filtered slow jazz with ‘I Feel Blue’ quite ably, but it’s not a scratch on a song like Groove Armada’s ‘At the River’. Wei-Chi’s ‘Faces and Places’ starts off like a promising synth driven Trance track, but then trips over itself and into a place where deep house domination is challenged by trancey and percussive grooved based attacks. A song with too many changes and no overall sense of direction, I’m wondering what this label is really on about. The soft and spiritless vocals of Carl A. Finlow ensure that Jean-Paul Bondy’s quality production work on ‘Cold Reformer’ goes overlooked, before album’s last gasp from Felix Laband. ‘Whistling in Tongues’ starts with charm and whimsy, with ringing bells and sizzling ride cymbal. When the toms and bass begin, we’re in the middle of the most promising work on the compilation. Like an upbeat ‘Boards of Canada’, Felix is a producer worth keeping an ear out for. Sadly on this occasion his work (along with that of Intuit and Ben Mono’s ‘Protection’) is surrounded by a heap of stinking Compost. My opinion still holds: the custom jewel case is the most exciting thing about this below-average release.