Searching for new music is often a demoralising and time consuming drain on many a bloggers daily schedule, you only have to spend 5 minutes trawling the seemingly endless heap of musical scrap that litters Soundcloud to understand our compulsive affliction. Its fair to say that 90% of the music we come into contact with, and I use that term ‘music’ loosely, lacks any sort of pre-upload accountability. However for all our grumblings its a challenge we take on willingly, knowing that the thrill of discovery can only be just round the next corner, enter Dusky.
The latest proponents of the 2012 House revolution are the London based duo Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman aka Dusky. Prior to the Dusky project they had already achieved notable success under their progressive house powered Solarity moniker, however it was their 2011 Dusky album ‘Stick By This‘ and single ‘Tyto Alba‘ that captured the imagination of electronic music’s dignitary, with Pete Tong, Maya Jane Coles, Paul Woolford, T Williams, Loefah, Sasha and Jamie Jones all spinning and supporting their tracks. Admittedly when we came across them we were only aware of the ‘Lost Highway EP’ and the forthcoming ‘Flo Jam EP’, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that Dusky have already produced 3 EP’s and an album of equal quality to their more recent work.
The Dusky sound is very much house with a strong 4×4 beat underpinning your traditional use of snares, claps and other typical percussive flourishes, however what sets Dusky apart from the increasingly crowded and generic masses is their slick blend of groove and melody, giving their tracks a musicality that is often lacking in clubland. Thanks must go to William for pointing us in their direction.
We recommend delving through their back catalogue, but here a few recommendations to get you started: