As we mentioned in our previous post we’ve had an unusually busy past 4-5 weeks, coupled with the fact that finding great new music during the summer months is always a little tricky, what with everyone standing in a field of their choice and drinking far too much Tuborg…That said a couple of records have caught our attention these past few days. Oddly both seeming to have their roots in 90’s prog house, a sound that in the past 6 months appears to be having somewhat of a renaissance, which if true is a welcome return in a scene that often feels as though it would say its favourite coffee is a ‘Black Americano’ when in actual fact it prefers the occasional ‘Gingerbread Latte with Whipped Cream’…
According to the official blurb XYZ hails from Copenhagen and has been writing and releasing music since the age of 16, an observation that many publicists like to emphasise when attempting to hype a record up. Yet, at least in our opinion, age is completely irrelevant in determining a records intrinsic musical value, agreed you wouldn’t want a boy band made up of balding, moob riddled 40 year olds, but this isn’t pop, its music for a darkened room not VEVO. So lets move on from age and focus on why this record is worth your time…says the writer in his 30’s!
Opening with a spacey arp and masticated vocal ‘Kenton Slash Demon‘ patiently allow the drama of the original source material to build its own sense of anticipation, with swelling pads pushing the tracks composite parts toward what in retrospect feels like its true natural progression. Where as the original doesn’t have beats or even a bass-line to mention, you’re not left feeling as though these elements have been carelessly tacked on to give the record dance-floor traction, rather you get a sense that the original is in actual fact the stripped back beat-less interpretation.
Like DJ Sotofett yesterday this is a record full of understated drama that if sequenced well can electrify any dance floor. However in order to extract this intrinsic potential you can’t just toss it in a set and hope for the best, you need to be thinking patience, anticipation, dynamics and crescendo…
XYZ – Solution (Kenton Slash Demon’s 4/4 Therapy) Out Now