Compilation review: ‘And Suddenly It’s Morning’ (Smallville)
Nov 2nd, 2009 | By admin | Category: Music Reviews
The venerable Smallville label steps out with a decent ten-track compilation of its latest musical wares.
Smallville, the Hamburg-based house imprint run by Julius Steinhoff and Peter Kersten (a.k.a. Lawrence and Sten), burst onto the scene in 2006 with a series of excellent singles that took listeners by storm. By the time they dropped the critically acclaimed second collaborative effort between Move D and Benjamin Brunn, Songs From The Beehive, last summer it seemed as if their reputation had become virtually bulletproof; however, And Suddenly It’s Morning, the label’s inaugural CD compilation, is something of a letdown in light of their near-flawless track record. Boasting ten tracks contributed by the label’s ever-expanding roster, the highlights are few and far between here, with most tracks sporting the stale aftertaste of having been phoned in. It’s not until the album’s last two cuts that things start to really pick up, as Dim Angélis and Jeroen Search’s “Our Life With The Wave” flows flawlessly into STL’s slow-burning dub house epic “Neurotransmitting Clouds On The Secret Freeway.” It’s not all bad, but And Suddenly It’s Morning is hardly as essential as any of Kompakt’s Total compilations.
Carl Ritger
File under: Kompakt, Dial, Playhouse
