Perseus Traxx :: The Magic Garden (Titanic City)

Thick and meaty rhythms, synthesizer spite mellowed by moments of lush pads.

Titanic City’s latest press release claims that the new addition to their roster needs no introduction. The Belfast label is probably right. Nigel Rogers, aka Perseus Traxx, has furnished labels like Bunker, M>O>S and Chiwax with his brand of house music. Rogers ferocious output has dipped of late, but the quality is still plain to be heard. The Englishman’s latest offering for Photic Fields was perhaps his smoothest outing to date, but the edges are being ruffled for The Magic Garden.

“Nymphs of the North” opens, a phrase I never used on my Belfast buddies. The track balances the floor and armchair. This is what the UK man seeks to do, find some strained harmony between calm and outright cruel. Cascading Larry Heard bars are countered by powerful percussion and stretched strings. 303 and 707 cholesterol follows. Gurgling acid and claps piled high introduce the fierce “Diamond Blade.” The dirty house equivalent of some artery eroding Bacon-Cheese Burger, chords are blackened and charred before heaping toms, cymbals and hi-hats on top. A good greasy serving. Flip over and the fat is still fresh and dripping. Great wedges of bass are squeezed, Acid oozes. Amidst the steady rasps of float stuttering samples to bring a dark groove to this filth encrusted piece. Bellowing reverb and hammering drums are finally meet by warmth in understandably titled ending, “Tension.”

Perseus Traxx has proved himself time and time again, this is another example of again. Elements of Rogers’ softer style are here, but the tight rawness that epitomized the York man’s early 12” is dominant. Thick and meaty rhythms, synthesizer spite mellowed by moments of lush pads. There should probably be a health warning included somewhere.

The Magic Garden is available on Titanic City.