Search - X-Marks the Pedwalk :: Retrospective 1988-1999

Retrospective 88-99 recaps the first decade in the life of the German electronic band X Marks the Pedwalk, brainchild of industrial megaproducer Sevren Ni-Arb. As a greatest-hits disc, it does its job nicely, handpicking some of the better cuts from the band's five full-length albums and numerous EPs. Ni-Arb is a master at creating coolly infectious dance tracks--all bubbling sequencers and propulsive beats--made memorable by melodic synth lines and hummable vocal refrains. "Facer," "Monomaniac," "Maximum Pace," and the Pet Shop Boys-tinged "Sweep Hand" are excellent examples of his more recent dance-floor-oriented work, but we also get older material of a decidedly harsher, Skinny Puppy-influenced nature with early singles such as "Arbitrary Execution," "Abbatoir," and "Paranoid Illusions." (Strangely, "The Trap," another strong early track, didn't make it onto this collection.) Also included are two pieces featuring the icily erotic vocals of Estefania, who brings a Chris & Cosey-like feel to Ni-Arb's synthetic symphonies. --Steve Landau