Pawel - Pawel

PAWEL - PAWEL (Dial)

The first album by Paul Kominek under his Pawel guise is perhaps an indicator of his aesthetic for Peter Kersten’s Dial label. Although his first single was for them back in 2001, it’s taken nearly a decade for a long player to emerge, and I have to say that whilst it’s not a disappointment, it is more than anything else a timely reminder that this sort of slick, intricate house/techno needs to move on.

Whilst there is much to admire with Dial, not least with the evolving sound of Kersten’s Lawrence guise, I was left with this album the feeling that things haven’t really moved on a great deal since 2005 or so. “Pawel” contains many of the archetypes of this sort of house music that we’ve come to expect from this, the more considered and undeniably mature end of the “minimal” spectrum, and whilst there is much to savour in an immediate sense here, one wonders what is beyond the 10 or so tracks that Kominek serves up.

Opener “PanAmerican” is perhaps indicative of the album as a whole, taking a simplistic four-tone melody and underlaying it with organic percussion and simple rhythms. It oscillates ever so slightly, and takes the odd turn here and there, but one is left with the empty feeling of why something so underwhelming will open an album. As a statement of intent it doesn’t set a particularly great tone.

Of course, deep beneath the studied glaze of these producers as they stare thoughtfully into their laptops, there is with most of them a love of Detroit and Chicago, and “Alvin” threatens to escape its minimal straightjacket with a considered wash of strings that is reminiscent of the best in the Motor City. It adds a much needed element of drama into proceedings. “Dawn” is all moody and melancholic 124 bpm house - pure Dial in a way, and like most of the tracks, crafted with due care and attention without injecting some idiosyncratic identity. Too much of the time, the same sinewy melodic effects caress a gentle beat, but progression and vitality are off the radar.

In fairness, the album picks up somewhat towards the end with tougher tracks such as “Crillon” and the more effective, stripped down thump of “Laredo”. The best, without doubt, is “Kramnik”, which combines 90’s Warp sounds with the best of the Hamburg sound. Whispering melodies play over a plangent set of rhythms to great effect. 

Although my words seem a little vitriolic, “Pawel” lacks anything bad, but it is the fact that it is too underwhelming in parts which causes upset. Kominksi’s word as Turner confirms his talent, and it’s a little frustrating that this seems so run-of-the-mill with the exception of 2 or 3 songs. If this album had been released in 2005 or 2006, I would sing its praises a lot more, but in 2010 it is playing catch-up.

Toby Frith