January 9th, 2012 • Albums, Reviews
Dave Monolith – Welcome
In any list of the most abused dance music genres, electro must rank highly.
Yet the good stuff’s been cropping up again recently, in obvious places (Clone’s lovingly presented Drexciya retrospective) and unexpected ones (some of the interesting parts of Joker’s overcooked debut album) – and there’s a goodish bit more of it on tucked away on Welcome, Dave Monolith’s much salivated-over first longplayer for Rephlex.
Aficionados of Stinson and Donald will find plenty of aquatic flex to satisfy them here, particularly in the none-more-widescreen textures of ‘Euphorium’. However, Monolith’s sonic palette encompasses nods and winks to an appealingly broad spectrum of classic electronic music, including hints of early-‘90s braindance mentalism on ‘Zunker’ and subtle drum/synth motifs recalling ‘Confusion’-era New Order (‘Farewell Frenchman’).
As a result, it could be argued that this is a record somewhat in thrall to other artists’ past glories. But the sleek production job, memorable tunes, nicely-judged track lengths and sheer energy that bubbles forth during much of its length mean you’ll probably be having far too much fun listening to bother with such uncharitable thoughts.
Welcome is out now on Rephlex
Alex
