Ego - Live Sets At Ego 1998-2000
2-CD, 2002, Live, Digipak

CD2 Track 10 fälschlicherweise als "Track 11" angeschrieben.


Düsseldorf-based art-house Ego only existed for a couple of years, between October 1998 and August 2000. During this time, the place was the scene of many live performances by electronic artists, ranging from club-orientated musicians to sound experimentalists. Live Sets At Ego 1998-2000 compiles some of the best moments of the place.
With a vocation stuck somewhere between chill out club and art gallery, Ego was bound to attract some of the most challenging artists around. From dance floor minimalism to the equally austere grounds of atmospheric, Live Sets… bring together some of the best of underground computer musicians, from Khan and Antonelli Electr. to Opiate and Kit Clayton. Some of these tracks have been previously released, but all versions included here are exclusive. Wether it is on the distant, fast-moving, Continuous Mode (Untitled), the aquatic beats of Produkt (Statik), the minimal experimentations of Monolake (Pluto) or the electro-pop anachronism of Kotai & Bader (Welltick), the listener is transported into some sterile parallel sonic universe, devoid of notions of time or distance. Melodies are scarce, only briefly emerging from nowhere before being swallowed again by the diverse rhythmic constructions or waves of warm sonic displays. The first part of this album, devoted to more upbeat tracks, is a celebration of minimal dance music. Each composition focuses on the essential relationship between beat and atmosphere in its very own way. The approach of Continuous Mode’s Andy Mellwig or Antonelli Electr. is somewhat different, some would say more accessible, than the more obscure ambiences created by Swayzak or Markus Nikolai. The second half presents the more sound-daring aspect of the lot. The hermetic sonic excursions of Markus Schmicker, Leandro Fresco or Noto are met with the complex, organic structures of Opiate, Thomas Brinkmann or Kit Clayton. Despite the segregation of genres, or perhaps because of it, Live Sets… is a captivating documentary on contemporary music, bringing together a wide range of artists, some already widely established, others craving for recognition. Electronic music doesn’t always transfer well to live performance, but the contributions included here were all part of a wider artistic project, and gain a dimension rarely heard.
Ego might be no more, its founders long gone to work on other projects, but its spirit is well and truly alive, and transpires rather well through this record.