A firm setting of the bar from Beyond the Speaker.
Legowelt. Willie Burns. Not a bad set of names to attach to your first release. Beyond the Speakers, a new American imprint, has managed to bring together these pioneering artists, the steadfast synthesizist Danny Wolfers and the head-turning William Burnett, for Angels Against Dust.
Bawdily broad bars open Legowelt’s “Azurian Sunset” before claps descend. A cascade of melodies flutter, Wolfers toying with Chicago rhythms to support a whirring analogue engine. Willie Burns continues his audio House melt set in motion on labels like Sequencias and Crème Organization. Round chords roll over one another as Burns paints in soft shades for the hazy “Frozen Tunnel Shuffle.” Sonorous spheres bubble and overflow as beats pierce a synthesizer richness. Wolfers returns on the flipside with “Another Dog’s Day.” Textures flow from the Dutchman’s fingertips as layers of warm abstraction are coupled with computer bleeps and steady percussion. The New Yorker rounds off the 12”. A DJ friendly 4/4 backdrop allows Burn to build a wall of shimmering sound with “Lagrangrian Plains.” Rising harmonies judder and shake, looming ever grander to border on intimidation. Arguably the is track more for the armchair than the floor but it is a superbly absorbing closer.
Mr Wolfers and Mr Burns were bound to deliver, and have. Legowelt serves up his trademark wizardry. Heady tones are blended with dancefloor elements for that West Coast taste. Burns adds two very interesting installments to his burgeoning discography. His blurred interpretation of House is a new twist on the genre. The Brooklyn man manages to accentuate melodies, tempering some of the brawn to mellow hints of Techno to enter. A firm setting of the bar from Beyond the Speaker.
Angels Against Dust is available on Beyond The Speakers.
