Of late electronic music has become much more retrospective. The past is building the present. Vintage machines are the tools of construction. The structures echo the blueprints of old. This attempt to recondition Chicago is producing a second age of house. Orpheus crafts his tracks within tight parameters.
[Clone release page] “House, what is house?” LFO asked this on their seminal Frequencies. “What is House?” Tony Humphries described house as a “mechanical” sound. A succinct synopsis. The house resurrection of recent years is asking new questions of what house is. A new artist is trying to answer this conundrum. Orpheus débuts Path From Hades on New York’s Sequencias.
“Waiting for You” brings warm atmospheric tones together with a steady machine beat. A deep piece of analogue house, reserved and clever. The taps are opened with the 303 lines and hi hats of “Sunlight Conspiracy.” Tweaks ruminate behind beats with Orpheus painting a shimmering backdrop before adding some extra ballast to the beats. The 303 chords remain for the finale, “How Can I Tell U?” The track is the darkest of the outings. Eerie chords produce an eclipsed aspect with Orpheus exploring the gloom and shadows of the genre.
Of late electronic music has become much more retrospective. The past is building the present. Vintage machines are the tools of construction. The structures echo the blueprints of old. This attempt to recondition Chicago is producing a second age of house. Orpheus crafts his tracks within tight parameters. The model is adhered to across the EP, but this newcomer turns his sound with a subtle complexity. Orpheus is neither spartan nor saturated, it is a balanced and strong take on the sound. Some modernists looked to the Classics for inspiration. Orpheus may be using the Classics for his nom de plume, but House is his inspiration and achievement.
Path From Hades is available on Sequencias.
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