Antiloop - At the Rebel's Room

Issue Number: 
324
Author: 
By Martha MERCER
Published: 
2002-06-07


Swedish duo Antiloop's long-awaited new compilation double disc, 'At the Rebel's Room,' is a spotty effort. Composed of past hits like 1997's 'In My Mind' and 'Start Rockin'' and other, lesser-known tracks, the album spans years and dance-music genres alike, with mixed results.

In a recent Russian interview, Antiloop's David Westerlund and Robin Soderman claimed this album would be more underground and less commercial than their previous work. However, by including some of their more commercial radio-friendly house-like songs alongside newer, harder techno tracks, the Swedes haven't exactly broken new ground. As much as they may want to be more underground, they're only taking a baby step towards it here.

In fact, the first disc - all radio mixes - starts off with some very early-'90s-sounding techno stuff. 'Believe,' the second track, may have been released in 1997, but now it comes off as extremely dated. Things get better toward the end of the first disc, and the beginning of the second disc - all remixes - is actually pretty interesting. But then the middle of the disc contains some real duds.

'At the Rebel's Room,' just like 2000's full-length "Fastlane People," contains a whole slew of recycled tracks. If Antiloop is seriously going to break new ground, Westerlund and Soderman might want to actually write some new material.

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