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Steve Stoll - Was Here - PS 08/102 Release Date: 30 October 2003 Limitation: 2000 Was Here 57.09 Part I - IX all tracks written by Steve Stoll
Steve Stoll's "Was Here" starts as you expect it to start: very ambient - no beats - but already after five seconds you start feeling things will burst pretty soon, and that's exactly what it does: after merely 1 minute Steve Stoll had enough quietness and throws in a first round of Detroit machinery, not that it kicks your speakers 1" forward as usual, but it feels like a supercharged V8 pre-staging at 800 RPM, waiting for something to trigger the beast (beast that in fact will remain caged till near the end of the album).
Second track is excellent minimal pulsating techno, much warmer although never loosing that rough edge, something you would find on say Touch? label but a little sharper.
On the third track the next round of Detroit equipment is mobilized and gradually evolves in this neurotic trancer that, although superb on its zenith, eventually starts screaming "please mix me now"... in vain, cause it just fades out, as do most tracks actually.
Fourth one is about some phat big beats that also pretty soon start yelling "please mix me now" but again they simply fade out to make room for some ambient droning that also just comes and eventually goes. Six is ambient techno that just fills up the gap between five and seven.
On the seventh track Pete clearly wasn't in the neighborhood and Steve Stoll had a great time on his own by showing what he's so good in: banging Detroit! When Pete is back around all is turned quickly down and some kind of Spiritcatcher trancer builds nicely until ... yep, it just ends.
And the last track? Unleash the beast, pitch it up and bang it loud!
"Was Here" is - even although the cover mentions only one running time - a collection of separate tracks that are placed one after another in a seemingly random order, tracks that differ very much and often have this "please mix me with something else attitude" leaving me with what I feel is more like a collected works compilation, then a well balanced album. But hey, that's ok for me!
(review by Jean-Marc Dekesel)
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