Swim Team #1 Sampler (CD)

Swim's compilation of underground eclecticism is an array of lo-fi guitar-based indie, trip-hop, ambient, and house music from Germany and the UK. Beginning with Malka Spigel's "Tall Grey Buildings", the feeling is immediately one of introspection and brooding contemplation. "Tall Grey Buildings" is followed by Silo's "Templates", which continues in the same vein, recalling the likes of Unrest and My Bloody Valentine. Next up is Dol-Lop's beautifully chilled trip-hop tune "Phase", evoking Aphex Twin, and then the guitar-sampling, New Order-evoking intensity of Ronnie & Clyde's "Mikki Maus", a punchy riff with wonderfully disconcerting wailing over the top. Some soothing ambience courtesy of Lobe, Symptoms and Newman/Izzo leads on to the distorted violin breaks of Steve Gears' "1st Person". Bumpy's "Pizza" ups the tempo with a house track which sounds like Underworld sans vocals (high praise indeed), and Underworld is again recalled by LOGM's "Constellation", an electronically tweaked voice set to a breakbeat frame. Immersion's two tracks consist of top-notch swirling ambience, rounding the album off on a more chic note. This is an intriguing insight into a label with a future as bright as its tone is overcast--a teaser which will leave you craving more.