Swimmingpool...



- ... are Michael Scheibenreiter and Stefan Schwander.

- ... Michael Scheibenreiter is commonly known by his polished producer work and as part of the drum & bass duo Phoneheads, where as

- ...Stefan Schwander is respected being an autodidactic maestro of sequential electronics with his one man techno/house projects Antonelli electr. (italic), Rythm_Maker (background), Repeat Orchestra (A Touch Of Class) and A Rocket In Dub (italic), as well as his work with modernist Jörg Burger as POP UP.

- ...are two artists that are deep into the area of electronic music. One of them (Scheibenreiter) with his broken beats, opulent arrangements and sometimes big swinging tension areas. The other one (Antonelli) holding a 4/4 bass drum at hand creating aesthetic dance monsters and digital soul made only in Duesseldorf. Together they poured out the best of both worlds in one pool on a relatively short time basis. This is their pool, where they threw out most of the garbage first, because it being their swimming pool they would want to feel comfortable in it. It became clear very soon that Swimmingpool`s world is not exactly drum & bass and minimal techno/house. They live in their own worlds. By working together they bundled their strengths, capabilities and flaws, trying something new, but never losing sight of the uniqueness of the other one`s work and respecting that.

For Swimmingpool the boundaries of the own pool are sacred. They are only overthrown if necessary. These boundaries define the space that allows them to move in any direction, but restricts them to appropriate slowness. To swim out to sea is left for others to try.

- ... have published two 12 es under the Combination label, which are also present on this album. After the ep with O-Ton Left and Atomizer (CORE 002) that was received with astonishment all around the world and attracted famous fans like Richie Hawtin, John Aquaviva and Matthias Schaffhäuser, this year they released Diver and Bypassed, (CORE 009) another appetizer waiting for the album. To fit into the flow of the album only Diver was adapted into Diver Part 2. Diver was also released on compact disc as opener on the Traffic II label compilation, by the way.



Anything, that doesn`t move...



... is the title of the debut album of Swimmingpool. The dualism in the title is both poignant as it is well considered. For one thing because the album breathes the kind of peaceful quietness that must drive frantic minds up the wall. The music constantly excels limits, but never acts avant-gardistic. It holds a natural peace that reminds of the tai chi fights of both producers. Also, because a Swimmingpool track can really take off in this quietness at the same time: proud and unique! Swimmingpool know that it is practically impossible to sit in between chairs. That is why they build their own chair. Or is there anyone out there who claims to know a music that sounds like this one? The record starts off with Direct Drive Ninety Five, a twinkling tinkle and a weird Rave-Ochsenfrosch introduce a beautiful e-piano harmony that weaves a carpet for beat and bass. On top a small winding double bass and here you go with an ouverture in 95 bpm. After 3:35 the whole world of the Swimmingpool sound has spread before us, but still the record surprises us with every new piece. One doesn`t have to fear saying this, because Scheibenreiter/ Antonelli do not need many ingredients to build their songs to crystal clear stories. Every song a different story. You can nearly touch them.



After Direct Drive Ninety Five, Eddy raises the tempo and slowly pumps up the club with a heavy boogie vibe that dips Diver Part 2 spicy and hymn-like in yet another flavour. Very deep diving here, old and new! Reprise succeeds a folky dub-reggae intermezzo as if SMPL wade through the water saddled up. The compact disc player display shows a 4 and behind us already lay a bundle of hits, when Living Near The Violent River opens up the record as if it has only just started! This track sinks a 1000 meters deep and lights a glowing orange-red rave fire as a signal to O-Ton Left, "in which subsonic power fields splash around accompanied by techno house ticking and dive every club into a never heard before colour."[SPEX]. The last signal tones die away while surfacing, when You Are (Everything) reveals another side of Swimmingpool: offensively brightening, breaking and beating.

Perhaps from the first Traffic compilation and Atomizer expand the spectrum with new nuances. Perhaps with a spring melody and a 2-step-alike beat and Atomizer as a secret hit from Core 002 with the heaviest basses covering the beats in wool - something a slim track like this can hardly bare. POP 2002, as we know it and no consensus retro! And then, as an encore: Bypassed, with the most concrete dub-house-idea, described by bleed in de:bug as follows: "Bypass" mixes ... cosy dubbing effects with the intersection sounds of Pole and The Wailers and rocks with a bass drum at hand through the sludgy unbongoed land of club hits."



Swimmingpool are knee-deep in dub. This is the essence, the space in which the music moves. Every track treats the space differently, but space is a steady companion. In a time in which basic channel dub plagiarism gets on ones nerves, Swimmingpool throw in a dub design that offers a completely new sound, with mumbling basses, strings, e-pianos, small breaks and a straight bass drum. It is so individual and unique, it will soon be a classic! So, we lean out of the window, but we won`t fall out.