Music

After a hiatus of over a year following the completion of the first series of Bip-Hop Generation compilation CDs, the French label Bip-Hop embarked on a second run of six albums. The new design is not as unifying or defining as the previous one, but the modus operandi of compiler Philippe Petitremains unchanged. Vol. 7 allots between ten and 15 minutes to six experimental electronica artists from six different countries, balancing sure values with names previously unknown. 12k guru Taylor Deupree gets to open the set, but his three lukewarm pieces, as decent as they may be, are quickly overrun by the other contributions. Emisor, aka the Argentinean electronician Leonardo Ramella, delivers bouncy, quirky tunes like a warmer, sunnier incarnation of Bovine Life. The Japanese duo Fonica blends guitar and electronics without sounding like Fennesz (a rarity these days!). Their 12-minute “Scoot” could have been a little bit shorter, but it still provides a highlight. So do Fm3’s two tracks. The pipa and the guzheng are two traditional Chinese string instruments, and they seem to be featured in “p.pa” and “zheng,” although heavily processed. There is a dreamy quality here one doesn’t naturally associate with China. Montreal’s Ghislain Poirier contributes three sweet-and-sour tunes, similar in style to Mitchell Akiyama’sIf Night Is a Weed and Day Grows Less. “La Danse du Plaisir” uses a voice-over from a documentary on mating rituals to good effect, although that will be lost on French-deaf listeners. Janek Schaefer closes the proceedings with a ten-minute offering, “Vasulka Vauban’s A Day in the Good Life,” a nebulous piece switching back and forth between murky analog-sounding drones and dense digital multi-textures. If anything, the assured taste displayed by Petit in previous installments of this collection ensures a quality compilation, and this volume doesn’t disappoint.