White Hole: Pink Album
Kyo

White Hole is comprised of long-time Berlin cohorts Hanno Leichtmann and Nicholas Bussmann who released their first album Waiting For Wood on Charhizma in 2001 under the guise DJ Attaché & The Beige Oscillator. Because the name constantly incited expectations of DJ sets, the duo opted for a new alias, hence the change to White Hole. Strangely enough, however, they bring a rather DJ-like sensibility to their Pink Album as it consistently flits from style to style; even though liner notes indicate that the release is intended to be categorized as hip-hop and electronica, with so many styles scattered throughout no overriding, coherent persona emerges (perhaps that's the intended impression). Maybe that wouldn't be so off-putting if the styles were handled in some novel or gripping manner, but that's not the case and instead the album comes across as ragged and undistinguished.

The collection of twelve tracks was recorded in 2004 in Vienna where Leichtmann lived for two months; armed with a hard disk, Bussmann visited and two weeks later the album was finished. First the good moments. While episodic, the opening piece “He's In Jail” is an effective electro-pop instrumental with whistling sing-song melodies and sashaying beats; “Galaxy” and “Le Rap Du Psy” are also credible hip-hop instrumentals rendered memorable by buzzing bass lines and soupy strings in the former and whistling moogs in the latter. Aside from those moments, there's little to recommend. “Ingru” wastes its opening half-minute on needless voice chatter before raw guitars and Boris Hauf's free jazz sax blowing appear, and the voices and especially the snippets of grandiose singing in “Musser Reprise” annoy. “Piano Again” begins promisingly with gentle keyboard playing but sluggish hip-hop beats and blurping noises bring it to a meandering close; also uneven is “Peter Builts” which conjures a smooth, bass-driven groove that's then weakened by synth squeals. The album ends with the epic workout “We Should Stay At Home Tonight”; opening tentatively with wavering electronics and cymbal patterns, it features resonant slide guitar by Martin Siewert but otherwise accomplishes little beyond growing louder and more intense over its ten-minute duration. In all probability, Leichtmann and Bussmann had a great time recording the album but the recorded evidence isn't as great; had they omitted the intrusive and unnecessary voice segments (which repeatedly appear), tightened up the arrangements, and developed the compositions further, the Pink Album might impress a whole lot more.

December 2004