Ellen Allien is the founder of the legendary underground BPitch Control label, and on this compilation she gathers 17 of her favorite releases (almost all of them previously available only on vinyl) and presents them on CD for those still not hip enough to own a turntable. Only the hippest will know most of these acts, though.
Ellen Allien herself makes several appearances, as do relatively well-known acts the MFA and
Smash TV (on the robot-disco rave-up "Disco 2 Break" and the enjoyably cheesy "TechTechTalk," respectively). Not everything here is brilliant:
Sylvie Marks and
Hal 9000 are funny, but not as funny as they think they are, and "My Computer Eats an Acid Trip (Dexter Remix)" falls flat at about the three-minute mark. But most of it is very close to brilliant, and highlights include a maybe-it's-ironic-but-who-cares drill'n'bass extravaganza by
Mochipet titled "Beautiful Babylonious Bits," as well as a very nice excursion into glitchy dub by
Modeselektor (featuring
Paul St. Hilaire). By veering happily between techno, breaks, house, dub and electro,
Camping 2 offers a highly satisfying vision of the electronic music future. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson