About a year after the fabulous first thematic Pingipung compilation (entitled ?Pingipung Plays: the Piano?), the label comes back with the second part in what will hopefully continue as a series. This time, the 16 tunes are based around the brass. Just like on the piano one, the artists don?t take the theme too seriously and apply it quite loosely. Also, reading the liner notes, it seems that the Pingipung crew didn?t take the theme too seriously either.

A few artists present on ?Brass? were already featured on ?Piano?, e.g., Hamburg?s Lawrence as well as the frequent Pingipung guests (and label owners), Mister Tingle, Peter Presto and Springintgut. The other artists go into a slightly more wacky and playful direction compared to the ?Piano? album which is a very welcome development. Examples of this trend come from several artists. For example, Bordeaux?s Gangpol und Mit come across with some fun fair sounds. Sweden?s chiptune genius Goto80 combines his Commodore 64 skills with real brass and an extremely wacky choir and Jab Mica Och El from Denmark provide one tune from their execellent 2006 album ?ABC Hej I?m Cola?. Another highlight is ?Brass Impro? by DJ Elephant Power (Nicolas Baudoux from Scratch Pet Land and Fan Club Orchestra) and Nico Usk? (aka Usk? Orchestra). I think I?ve used the term ?New Weird Belgium? already, but if I haven?t, this is a good opportunity.

While not all tracks are as playful as the above-mentioned, the compilation still has ?fun? written all over it. ?Brasserie? by Le Rok for example is so good-humoured, it saves even the rainiest day. The same goes for ?Yippie? by Mouse on Mars, taken from their ?Niun Niggung? album, for the two summery dub reggae tunes by Peter Presto and Hey O Hansen and for basically everything else on ?Pingipung Blows: The Brass.? Actually, the melancholy that was present on some moments of the ?Piano? compilation has been blown away completely by existent and non-existent brass instruments. We can only hope that Pingipung will continue this series. There are still so many instruments to base a compilation on that this won?t get boring too soon. 8/10 -- Stephan Bauer (6 March, 2007)