Pole (album)

Pole is the debut studio album by German electronic musician Pole, released in 1998 on the Matador Records label. It is the first in a trilogy of albums by Pole that share the same self-titled name, but are distinguished from each other primarily by their cover art and release year.

This particular Pole album, sometimes unofficially referred to as "Pole 1" to differentiate it from its successors, established Pole's signature sound: a minimalist, dub-influenced style of electronic music characterized by glitchy sounds, deep bass frequencies, and a heavy emphasis on space and texture. The album is notable for its innovative use of damaged or faulty audio equipment, particularly a Waldorf 4-Pole filter, which resulted in the characteristic crackles and static prevalent throughout the tracks.

The album features a tracklist of untitled songs, each numbered sequentially from "1" to "7". The music is primarily instrumental and focuses on creating atmospheric soundscapes rather than traditional song structures.

"Pole" (1998) is considered a seminal work in the development of glitch electronica and remains highly influential in the genre.