Various - Station
[Ai Records]

OK, for those of you who have been sleeping a bit too much, here's a little bit on what this is all about. 2003 was a good year for the Ai Records stable ('Leisure' & 'New Town' albums plus Claro Intelecto's out-put) and 2004 looks set to follow in its footsteps. With solo albums from Claro Intelecto, Yellotone & Michael Manning, as well as EP's by the likes of FZV & Buddy Peace.

The first outing of the year comes in the form of the new 'Station' compilation, bringing together new & old label mates and spanning an impressive 16 tracks. What is most notable about this collection is its shift in direction, where previous compilations on Ai have been rather 'up-beat', 'Station' takes things deeper. Offering up slices of intricate & mature production which previous releases haven't lacked, just here things seem slightly more relaxed.

Take for instance the absolutely beautiful 'Block N Oar', which comes courtesy of new boy Sofa Lofa, who previously released singles through his own Deep-water label. Melting together jolly elements of hip-hop & electronica to produce a crisp and captivating sound. It's the sound of super intelligent kids, or even a new genre 'kid hop'!

Equally as impressive are offerings from the likes of Sinner DC whose track 'Alice' floats around on a bed of distortion and feedback, while delivering a subtle yet effective vocal which is executed perfectly. The electro-orchestral offering from Subside entitled 'Home to an Empty House' is a mixture of cinematic sounding keys and synth patterns, coupled with punctured beats & producing a sound of total diversity.

The latter half of this compilation delves into dark and sinister water's; Normal's 'Welk' or Traject's 'Laroche & Dolson' are two examples. Both tracks are extremely deep pieces of electronica with 'Welk' enjoying a healthy intro before picking up with the introduction of a nice drum loop & some rather strange twisted effects. While 'Laroche & Dolson' is extremely industrial in its sound, reminiscent of early Spooky releases.

There is a plethora of other artists featured on 'Station', the likes of Yellotone, Tin Tole-Lata and Ascoltare all offering up tracks, helping to piece together an extremely interesting & diverse record. 'Station' is something totally different from Ai records, if your looking for an introduction to this brilliant and relatively new label this could be the ticket. All aboard.