:Wumpscut:

New tunes, old tunes, remixes, rare goodies — basically a whole mess of Rudy Ratzinger (aka :Wumpscut:) is compiled neatly here for your listening pleasure. A master of dark electronic, producing industrial as German as it gets, Ratzinger’s output is spanned over two discs and 33 songs. Before Ratzinger was doing the double-time hard industrial of his later repertoire, his work was more experimental and largely instrumental, combining found sound noise and samples with less dance-oriented beats and sparse vocals. Originally only released as part of a box set, the Preferential Legacy portion is where you find these early treasures — the highlights of the bunch. Then he goes and throws in a few remixes he’s done for other acts such as Das Ich and Cleen,; not a bad thing, but likely only material hardcore :Wump: fans really need. If you’re the type that wants to collect every B-side and odd track that Ratzinger found when he moved the cushions on the sofa, then this is for you, cause it’s all here. But better still is that here, Ratzinger shows his versatility. “Wound,” a mellow, almost jazzy instrumental number has absolutely nothing to do with the clang-banging “Stomp,” the industrial boot-stomper “Soylent Green” or the Alison Moyet cover “All Cried Out.” Each work is a collage of sound, gluing together a cacophony of synth sounds and programmed beats both clear and fuzzy and always dark. His moments of caustic vocals and dark melody make sure things are kept appropriately abrasive with enough melancholy beauty to balance it all out.