ARTIST FOCUS: GESAFFELSTEIN

Another French producer - but a very good one. Born in Lyon, Mike Lévy started out by experimenting with synthesizers whilst taking vague inspiration from classic techno, and it's this creativity that's evident in his work. Having remixed various artists from Justice to Lana Del Rey, along with small releases on Turbo, the 28-year-old producer is on the brink of releasing his debut album 'Aleph' (that's Hebrew for 'Alpha').

There seems to be considerable hype surrounding the guy, which to my mind is perfectly justifiable. Whilst techno isn't normally my thing (I find it a bit too sparse and minimal... i.e. boring), Gesaffelstein takes the genre and makes it his own. That is why I fell in love with his first single from his debut, 'Pursuit.' How I met it, I don't know, but when I did, I certainly knew about it. It's ridiculously abrasive, chugging and throbbing with industrial precision. The drums are definitely key to this: they're huge. And the atmospheric rest in the middle just makes the return of the syncopated bass line even more powerful. The more you listen, the more it hypnotises.

Most recently, Lévy has released 'Hate or Glory,' which runs in the same veins as 'Pursuit'. But where the latter feels hypnotic, the former has a real edge. The sound is purposeful and driven, making excellent use of silence to heighten mood. And towards the end, the relentless hi-hat rolling and distortion make for a brutal climax. These two songs both remind me of Daft Punk, a fusion of 'Homework' and 'Human After All' - definitely a good thing to be reminded of.

Combine this with Gesaffelstein's dark image and intense art-house music videos, and he's managed to take dance music to the next level. It shocks and seduces, blurring high art with beats and distortion into something quite exciting. And this is what, in my eyes, makes a producer special. It's not just dance music, it's deeper than that, more intelligent.

The Aleph-male of techno.

SUB FOCUS - TORUS

So, following his various singles, I expected good things from this album. An owner of his self-titled debut, which is a great drum'n'bass album (whilst flirting with other genres), I automatically pre-ordered Torus. And it didn't disappoint...



So, my thoughts:

The album opens with the beastly title track. The first minute of "Torus" is a perfect example of how to open an album - eerie, intense, and intriguing. As the track progresses, it looses it's way a teeny bit, but it's still a powerful opener and also sets the tone for the album - this is not a stream of huge drum 'n' bass CHOOONZ. Next is the first d'n'b offering, the awesome "Safe in Sound." At this point in time, this is my favourite track of the album - the operatic vocals, the anthemic chord progressions, it's brilliant. I cannot listen to this track enough, seriously. Third is the first of the album's numerous pre-released singles, "Endorphins" featuring Alex Clare of "Too Close" fame. The track really is textbook chart-step. No issues with that, it's expertly produced, but it's not an album maker-or-breaker for me.

Next is another single, "Out The Blue" with guest vocals by Alice Gold. This sounds much more like Douwma's first album, albeit a bit more chunky and fleshed-out. Another choon that'll be a favourite of the mainstream Sub Focus fans. Following this is "Twilight" - an interestingly minimal track, full of clicky drums, washy pads, and big wobbly sub bass. Track 6 sees yet another switch up in style, with the immaculately produced "Close" featuring MNEK. This track leaves me unsure - on the one hand it's excellently produced and very very good. But it also has a whiff of unoriginality. This could very, very easily be Disclosure. But it isn't. Then comes another favourite of mine - the deliriously up-beat "Turn It Around" featuring vocals by Bloc Party frontman Kele (which makes it understandable as to why I love this song so much). I can understand the song might be a bit pop-y for some, but it still has the Sub Focus feel and the second drop makes for a wonderfully uplifting ending.

Into the second half of the album, and we move on to the surprising "Out of Reach", a collaboration with Welsh up-and-comer Jayelldee. The track is a complete departure from the bass-centric tendencies of the rest of the album, featuring some excellent african influences and some nice live drumming. Another stand-out track. And then we all recieve whiplash as we move to "Falling Down," a previously released single featuring Kenzie May. This is very much dubstep, and good too. Then another change to "Turn Back Time," a confusing mix of late 80's/early 90's dance and the type of bass music favoured by today's crowd. This is a track that I'm still undecided on, mainly because I feel the drop isn't as heavy as it seems to intend to be. There's clear intent for the sort of big-kick-drum-with-syncopated-stabs sound that we know from track's like Knife Party's "LRAD". But it isn't quite there. Following this is the slightly weak collaboration with Culture Shock and TC, "You Make It Better." Some nice vocals, but an otherwise cold track.

The penultimate piece is the song that got me to sit up and pay attention to Sub Focus again - "Tidal Wave." This is a track that as soon as I heard it, I fell in love. Alpines heart-felt vocals soar across the hypnotic pulsating of pitch-bent synths and bass, before dropping into the typical drum 'n' bass ending that takes the song to the next level. And closing the album is another strange track - the heavily 80's-influenced "Until The End" with vocals by Foxes. Where I was expecting a surging, all-guns-blazing, punch-in-the-air kinda finale, we are instead greeted with a very smooth ballad. A disappointment for some, but I think it makes for an interesting close. And the track fades into the sort of sounds and effects one could expect from The Chemical Brothers, swelling before suddenly cutting out in one of the most sudden endings I've heard.

In conclusion, this is an album that I'm glad I pre-ordered. There are no 'bad' tracks, and some excellent ones that I won't get tired of for some time. My main gripe is that it jumps around a lot, taking sounds from the 80s, 90s and 00s, and from all walks of electronic music. In many ways, this makes the album fantastic, but it means that as a whole, it doesn't gel very well. It isn't greater than the sum of its parts. And as much as I don't want to say it, and it may not be true, but there's a niggling sense of chasing commercial gain by making everything that's popular. But I doubt this is the case. And regardless, these are some excellent, excellent tunes, by anyone's standards.

HIGHLIGHTS: Safe In Sound // Turn It Around // Out of Reach // Tidal Wave

LISTEN TO THE WHOLE ALBUM HERE