Search - Suburban Knight :: My Sol Dark Direction

DO NOT doubt its greatness!

Aaron Zamarron | Belleville, MI United States | 02/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is great Detroit stuff! I had a lot of trouble deciding whether or not to purchase this release though. You see, a few months ago I had purchased K. Hand's "Detroit History Part 1," a tribute to the 1st Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. After having been introduced to her through "Come On Now Baby," her contribution to the Astralwerks "Beyond the Third Wave" compilation, and from buying a couple of her spectacular 12"s, I was overjoyed to pick it up. Sadly I found it to be quite mediocre in what I expected of her. Instead of the minimal funkiness of her soulful Detroit house sound, it became too overly minimal with very little or absolutely no melodic development. Most tracks were just one-bar loops repeating over and over with very little deviation. Anyway, this isn't a review about K. Hand's album, it's about Suburban Knight. What I am saying is that this release is NOT a mindless, minimal four-on-the-floor record, it's a beautiful piece of Detroit's signature sound. You shouldn't feel doubtful like I did about it, even despite the lack of sound samples (they weren't even on the Peacefrog label site). Melancholy synth strings, syncopated tech hi-hats, and that cold stark sound, but still enough melody to keep you happy. I haven't purchased a great Detroit techno album like this one in a while. Many of the new Detroit-based artists don't sound anything like the originators of the sound. Suburban Knight is not a new artist, but he still does it my favorite way. Hopefully he can pass off the torch."

Classic Detroit Techno/Electro Sound

Jay M | Dublin, Ireland | 01/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"James Pennington of Underground Resistance fame delivers his first solo album for Peacefrog, and mighty good it is too.It has all you have come to expect from Pennington, the rugged electronic beats of the motor city, Detroit, combined with beautiful string melodies.The emphasis is always on the more rugged side of techno/electro, but with the strings and basslines, it combines to be anything other than harsh. Equally at home on the home stereo or on the dancefloor, this is in my top 3 Peaecfrog releases of 2003."