Search - Michael Anthony :: Aesthetic Theories

An original mixture of tech-trance, breaks, and house

Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 01/23/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Anthony has developed a reputation as a kind of creative, eclectic *wunderkindt* among west coast dj's, and this mix on the Terraform label shows why. Anthony serves up a delicious nonstop set here that starts out in a kind of tech-breaks vein, then in Atty Mezcal's "Attymatic" slides into a sound that has affinities with dark, percussive, progressive trance. In the middle portion of the mix there emerges an hypnotic, tech-trance groove that becomes perhaps a bit repetitive in lengthy tracks like Zero Zero's "Paradisco." The mood shifts, however, partway through Issi Noho's "First Snow," which bursts into trancey breaks halfway through. From here, the surprises continue: Zero Zero's "Eastwards" has a delightfully eastern psytrance texture; Tom Chasteen's airy, jazzy "Salom" features a guitar line that is reminiscent of that old San Francisco rocker Carlos Santana; Michael Anthony contributes his own dose of heavy, funky breakbeat in "Come Alive"; Hakan Lidbo's "Bulldozer Funk" has an eighties disco feel; and to wrap things up, Head Affect offers up a final dose of funky dancefloor breaks in "Fakin."Overall, this is a set that stands out for its mixture of styles and its originality; for most listeners, there is virtually nothing included here they will have heard before on other dj mixes. There is flow and movement and beat and texture, and the set inspires the listener to get up and dance. That makes this a pretty darned good mix, in my book."