DRAIN | VINYL RECORD (LP)

Marco Bailey, By maintaining a consistently high-quality output that does not merely ride the wave of current trends, multi-faceted producer Marco Bailey has managed to survive through decades of mercilessly shifting adjustments to popular taste in dance music. From his beginnings in the late '80s spinning eclectic sets comprised of everything from punk to old school hip-hop, to his present interest in pure unadulterated techno, the Belgium-based DJ and producer has won over audiences with his keen knowledge of how to squeeze the greatest physical and emotional impact out of a few well-placed elements, along with his instinct for seeking out the most innovative and resilient kindred spirits. These combined talents have led to his formation of several different labels: MB Electronics in 2001, the "limited edition" label MBR in 2013, and lastly the new Materia label, which started in 2016. His similarly named event series, Materia, has also been a truly worldwide "state of the art" summit for advanced techno artists. This full-length by Marco Bailey, stretches back to his mid-90s period as a trance producer, with gracefully arcing and anthemic affairs composed of individual tracks that follow that same blueprint. Temper marks his fifth full-length album overall, and Bailey claims it to be the best overall representation of his sound. With seventeen tracks comprising almost an hour-and-a-half of music, he has ample room to stretch out and to give listeners an excellent portable version of his potent live show. Of course, an epic running time alone is not the marker of a great audio experience, but an epic running time in which one loses track of time completely is - Bailey accomplishes this feat by never rushing the payoff; by organically building up each track until listeners are fully immersed in his alternate universe. This skill can be heard on banging, sweat-saturated tracks like "Ash", "Genetix", and "Hasai," but also on comparatively gentle pieces like "Klauth" (which straddles the line between disciplined electro and something more dreamlike and weightless), or the blissed-out "Suoh", which feels like a fresh snowfall in audio form. Low-key cuts like "Rex", driven by echo FX and other windswept sounds, form natural counterparts to busier tracks like "Ruth", with it's spring-loaded sequencer attacks, or "Reboot That Device", which is ingeniously driven by a psychedelic organ. Minimalist vocals are occasionally injected into the mix - "The Darkness" - to impart a subtle message of constant, ongoing expansion. "In The Darkness" features Tim Baker.