Ellen Allien's SooL is perfect headphones music

Some time ago, I bought an expensive-ish pair of large headphones. This is the kind with a 1/4 inch jack that won't fit into an iPod. The phones cover half your face and you couldn't credibly wear anything like them out in public (though the hipsters in Little Five try to pull it off, and don't). Anyway, the very best thing about having these things is that it has really opened me up to the world of electronic music, particularly dance and club-centric genres like house and dubstep. In my view, there are two ways to truly experience this music, which has, as its backbone, deep bass parts: (1) stay out late at underground clubs--primarily in London, Munich, and Berlin--where the soundsystems are designed precisely to handle this type of thing, or (2) buy an excellent pair of headphones with good low-frequency response and cerebrally absorb the sounds in some place comfortable. Given my choice of lifestyle, option (2) is really it for me. 

And that's OK, because, as the new Ellen Allien demonstrates, that's a pretty perfect way to listen. SooL is far less "in your face" than past Allien releases, toning down on some of the louder, high-to-mid-frequency synth parts, distorted guitar sounds, and vocal clips that drove many of the songs on her past works. This is the first Allien release that I would safely classify as "minimal," in that many of the songs go for bars and bars of nothing but spare drum sounds, light clicks-for-double-time, and a subtle bass line. For this reason, the big headphones (or the big club system) are a must, because its difficult to truly appreciate the ever-important low frequency parts otherwise.  The sense of subtlety on this release, something that is mostly absent on past albums, also gives one a sense of listening to an artist who has matured and grown more confident in her craft. Its a real pleasure to hear, and its great to know that an artist who you admire is growing and evolving as time passes.   

Oh yeah, and its probably worth mentioning that the cover art kicks ass. See above.