Zero Gold

Product Description
Pole Folder debuted on Bedrock Records in 2001 with a track conceived around space echoes and a strange collaboration of sounds called ‘Apollo Vibes’. The massive underground response to this song, used by John Digweed to open his ‘Global Underground – Los Angeles’ album was the beginning of Pole Folder’s career and his close collaboration with Bedrock. A worthy follow up to ‘Apollo Vibes’ came with the fantastic AA, ‘Enter the Rhythm’ / ‘Waxxx’ and "Dust" in particular confirmed to the electronic scene that this was a new musician to watch with interest.

It took Pole Folder almost 2 years to produce "Zero Gold", a timeframe necessary to develop the complete idea of the concept and his musical translation of the ideas into an album. Drawing on inspiration from artists like Pink Floyd, Pole Folder has fought to find a common idea behind the tracks and reflect this in the development of one track into the next. Rather than following established conventions of structuring the album or even worse, giving it no thought, the development of each individual track and each track into the next is governed by a strict desire to by driven by artistic motives and not the fears that lead to the easy options.

From ‘Abrasion’ to ‘Before it all changes’ Pole Folder shares his analysis of the fears and doubts which afflict the human condition and that despite the palpable presence of melancholy made evident through the lyrics, and the atmospheric tone, a delicate optimism rises from the album.

"Zero Gold" is not simply a dance album. It is a carefully crafted work, grounded in timeless musical concepts, stellar production and genuinely felt artistic presence. It acknowledges its influences without parodying them and is ultimately an expression of the artist’s endeavor played out through the use of modern technologies and musical techniques.

Zero Gold,Pole Folder,Bedrock / Hyper,Dance,Dance Music,Pop,Progressive House

Average customer rating:

Amazing!!!

Buy this album!

PURE GOLD

Often jaw-droppingly beautiful with only a few truly flawed tracks

A lush, atmospheric, well produced album.

Zero Gold
Pole Folder
Manufacturer: Bedrock / Hyper
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
House | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
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OS_0.3

Layered Sounds, Vol. 2

Balance 007

Balance 005

ASIN: B0007NMK12
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Tracks:

Abrasion feat. Shelley Harland
Waterfalls Of Love feat. Sandra Ferretti
Salvation On Slavery Sins
Scared To Lose feat. Sandra Ferretti
Inner Turmoil
London
Fall In Violet. feat. Shelley Harland
Morning Crow
Faith In Me. feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw
Before It All Changes

Product Description

1. Abrasion feat. Shelley Harland
2. Waterfalls Of Love feat. Sandra Ferretti
3. Salvation On Slavery Sins
4. Scared To Lose feat. Sandra Ferretti
5. Inner Turmoil
6. London
7. Fall In Violet. feat. Shelley Harland
8. Morning Crow
9. Faith In Me. feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw
10. Before It All Changes

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Amazing!!!.......2007-07-13

It was on a Nip/Tuck episode that I was lucky enough to hear a fragment of "Faith In Me", (song #9 on CD) and was immediatly taken away by both the music and the lush voice of ethereal vocalist, Shelley Harland. Scared to loose is one of the best songs on the CD, definitely worth the price.

This is one of those Cd's that are fully enjoyable over a glass of wine and a quiet athmosphere.

Buy this album!.......2006-01-10

If you are like me and are very picky about what you would call electronica, then this is the album for you. Pole Folder strikes a home run with this awesome release on the Bedrock label. From the enchanting vocals on 'Abrasion' to the dark undertones of 'Fall In Violet' and everything in between this album just floored me. I haven't played an entire electronica album, or any album for that matter, in years until I heard (and promptly purchased) this one. I know its a weird way to put this, but think Pink Floyd for the electronic age and that's about the best description for this album. Just when you think truly good progressive is dead, Pole Folder's Zero Gold album reminds you that old styles never die, they just go faster! Seriously a two thumbs up on this one and worth its weight in gold ;)

PURE GOLD.......2005-12-14

I don't think I gave this a full review yet. I'm a big fan of artist albums as opposed to DJ mixes, since they portray the 'creative' side of an entity (DJ, group, DJ/producer, etc...) in their entirety. Take Way Out West's Intensify and later, Don't Look Now...Nuclear Ramjet's Music for Spaceports, or Bonobo's Animal Magic, or Sasha's Airdrawndagger, or Tilt's Explorer (all must-have masterpieces, btw).

John Digweed's Bedrock label has been bringing us quality electronica for a while now, and has released some ace compliations featuring unmixed creations by affiliated artists, but never has it released an artist album with all the tracks created by one artist/group. Enter Benoit Franquet, also known as the Pole Folder - best known before this release for his and CP's Apollo Vibes...a track that opened Digweed's epic GU: LA set.

I always figured he was dark from the few tracks (originals and remixes of others) he's done, but I never suspected he'd be this this dark. Add to that a decent drop in BPM (compared to his normal stuff) for some of the songs, and it's even darker. Lucky for us, he cared enough to call upon gifted sirens such as Kirsty Hawkshaw to lend their vocals.

I'm rambling, so let me get to the point. This album is PURE GOLD. 25 karat...yeah, I said 25. Don't expect it to be the dance-anthem laden outing of the year, because you'll be sorely disappointed. I hate the coin 'IDM' as much as any other e-music head, but if we have to use it, this definitely applies. Intelligent dance music...even though a lot of it isn't exactly danceable.

I'm not very good at describing people (I'd be stuck if someone robbed me or something...and I needed to give a description). Similarly, I'm not very good at describing songs. Instead, see what I mean for yourself when you hear "Salvation on Slavery Sins"

This has now become my favorite song on the album. I was planning on opening up my next recorded mix with it, but Hernan Cattaneo beat me to it. Hey, but I feel good a prominent DJ such as he would think alike there :wink:

Check it out, and become addicted. Buy it...

This is THE album of 2005, overall

Often jaw-droppingly beautiful with only a few truly flawed tracks.......2005-12-03

Anyone who followed progressive house in its glory days of 1999-2002 knows something of Belgian artist Benoit Franquet a.k.a. Pole Folder. His premier track "Apollo Vibes" opened John Digweed's Los Angeles retrospective in the GlobalUnderground series, and his follow-up "Dust" was a stand-out on Digweed's later effort MMII effort. The world in which these tracks shot to fame has disappeared forever, but luckily Pole Folder himself has not. He remains committed to this kind of brilliant forward-thinking dance music, and after years of preparation has unveiled his artist album, ZERO GOLD.

The opening "Abrasion" feat. Shelley Harland deserves to go down as one of the best tracks ever made in the house tradition. Incredibly lush pads, ingeniously altered vocals, luxury-class atmospherics makes this six minutes that will not fail to move you deeply. In many places on ZERO GOLD Pole Folder uses this same winning combination, but always keeping it fresh with new elements. Take, for example, "Inner Turmoil", where he manages to combine his focus on groove with a long-time love of Pink Floyd: over a sly yet relentless beat wild guitar effects wash over the listener like a sea of sound. In "Fall In Violet" featuring again Harland, mixes a Swayzak-ish faux-German vocal line with a whompy bass line like nothing I've heard before and great synths. The last track on the album, "Before It All Changes", recalls some of the menacing ambience of Hybrid's work, yet has even greater aural dimensions.

With so much of this album being phenomenal, it's all the more a pity that there is some unequivocably poor material here. "Scared To Lose" feat. Sandra Ferretti has some uninspiringly rough material coupled with risible lyrics. "Faith In Me", a ballad of sorts, feels out of place with its idiosyncratic percussion. And as one who never enjoyed the "electro" phase, I find "Salvation on Slavery Sins" nearly unlistenable (yet, it's ironically one of the most successful songs on the album among the current dance scene's afficiandos).

Yet, a couple of off tracks should not stop you from picking up this album post-haste. I've played this for several other fans of progressive dance music, and none has been less than awed. Listening to this album, one is simultaneous sad at the sudden shifts in progressive dance music in 2002 that lost a lot of long-time fans, myself included, and yet happy that Pole Folder continues in this rich style. Ironically, some of the finest progressive music has appeared several years after everyone thought it was dead for good.

A lush, atmospheric, well produced album........2005-08-14

I was a huge fan of Pole Folder's "Apollo Vibe" track, so when Zero Gold came out, I knew this would be scooped up pretty quickly. ... and rightfully so! Zero Gold is an excellent album that should appeal to a pretty wide range of electronic music lovers. The whole vibe of the record is a really cool blend of techno, house, trip-hop, downtempo and ethereal-type styles. I could definitely see fans of John Digweed and Paul Oakenfold's music as well as fans of Delerium and Conjure One getting into this. Nice production and a moody, ambient atmosphere throughout. Definitely a record to listen to all the way through. No filler tracks, just good music.

Average customer rating:

Often jaw-droppingly beautiful with only a couple of truly flawed tracks

Zero Gold

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

House | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000NQPTES
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Customer Reviews:

Often jaw-droppingly beautiful with only a couple of truly flawed tracks.......2007-03-28

Average customer rating:

Interesting and hypnotic
A great lo-fi indie electronic album - most people will love it!
very quirky!
jade tree rocks.
Refreshing!!!!Addictive!

AM Gold
Zero Zero
Manufacturer: Jade Tree
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Emo | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Electronic Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005B8OX
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Tracks:

True Zero
AM Gold
Pink and Green
Hello, How Are You?
Pep Sounds
Listen, Listen
Xanadu
Back to Hell
Speed Garage
D Minus
Team Minus Zero

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and hypnotic.......2007-01-13

An interesting, hypnotic, indie lo-fi electro/pop album from a little-known band called Zero Zero, 'AM Gold', on Jade Tree records. They sound somewhat like Stereolab, especially the songs 'Speed Garage', and 'Pink & Green', sounds a lot like their older music. One of the vocalists is Ari from Lifetime, although there is nothing punk about this band. Really good stuff. This is so much better than Mellow's 'Another Mellow Spring' (halfway between thumbs up and thumbs down for this album).

A great lo-fi indie electronic album - most people will love it!.......2006-01-05

I'll be the first to say that "True Zero" is an unknown lo-fi indie electronic classic and is the best track here. Fortunately the rest of the album holds up very well - just not as well as this great song. The songs are usually pretty complex and feature some neat "electronization" (electronic equivalent for instrumentation). There are no bad songs here - everything is very well done. Sadly, though, the rest of the album isn't as catchy as "True Zero" as that track sort of sets you up for something great and then slows way down. There essentially aren't any lyrics of note here - you can barely make them out even if you tried. It's basically just an atmospheric and slightly dancable album. Indie electronic fans will love this album (and most people will love "True Zero"). I'm giving this "5" stars because every song here is great (they're somewhat catchy and always very interesting) and for the inclusion of "True Zero". All things said , this absolutely recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

very quirky!.......2005-03-22

hmmm not sure how i ended up with this album but somehow i have it...

do i like it?

not really... it's quirky... i guess it's one of the few album's that i have in my collection that can be called quirky... i guess that's not my thing...

i can't really give this album justice... I'm not a big emo fan and not a big electronic fan... unless it's somethings really special... like The New Deal... and this album is nothing special...

sometimes hearing Tannis Kristanjson's voice perks me up... like coffee... she has the cutest voice that just pops over these songs... and Ari Katz (from Jade Tree's Lifetime) is her counterpart... just bubbly as can be...

the thing that annoys me the most about the album is not having a clue what the singers are singing... i pretty much have to guess because i can't find the lyrics on the web...

the whole album is pretty much a drag... i say save your money... but you most likely wont even be able to find this...

hey... take my copy!

1 star out of 5

jade tree rocks........2002-08-08

Jade Tree is one of my favorite record labels, and Zero Zero is another one of their incredible bands on the roster. I love the raw feel to their songs, with some touches of slight electronic influence. Very very good album!!

Refreshing!!!!Addictive!.......2001-06-17

I can't get it out of my stereo. These guys will definately blow up big so get into them now so you can say you've been into them from the start!

Average customer rating:

Silver and Gold; Randy & the Rainbows

Manufacturer: Rainbeaux Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0007DFOZQ

Product Description

1. Silver and Gold 2. Laura 3. Denise 4. Come Back 5. Why Do Kids Grow Up 6. She's My Angel 7. Happy Teenager 8. Dry Your Eyes 9. Little Star 10. Sharin' 11. Joyride 12. Denise '81