OPM: Breakbeats, Trance Classics + More

Replay in Neon – Landscapes in Phase

Widescreen cinematic instrumental electronica with incredible presence and frequent surprises. Full of sharp-edged electronic timbres, hard-hitting drum machine rhythms and a laboratory-clean aesthetic that calls back to the storied past of electronic music while keeping its eyes on the future. 

This sounds a bit like a mashup of classic Kraftwerk/Tangerine Dream and old-school industrial/EBM, with a dash of first wave techno thrown in for good measure, but all calibrated to modern ears. The tracks are long, but they cover a lot of territory over their runtime, so the chances you’ll get bored are basically nil – wait a minute and something new will happen!

(Listened to tracks 1 and 4)

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LOOT – “üetzgi”

Hard hitting breakbeat science that leans hard into the experimental realms. There’s a heavy emphasis on the break itself, tortured in various ways – nearly blown out here, slowed down and warped there – with bare hints of accompaniment around it, and most of that just whooshes of noise and texture occasionally dropping in. 

A few wobbly chords and scrappy hints of melody flit in and out and around these warped beats, but they’re definitely subordinate to the rhythm. Depending on who you ask, this could be IDM, experimental jungle or just a really weird breakbeat b-side. Interesting stuff, in any case.

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Senn – “Up” “Summer Nectar”

A pair of big-room trance tracks that are chock full of the chirpy melodies, epic pads and hands-in-the-air builds that define the genre. It’s almost refreshing to see how little trance has changed over the years! From the day it was invented until the end of time, trance is one of the eternal, undeniable pillars of dance music, and these tracks are solid examples of the style that speak to its undying appeal. 

And sure, that style/these tracks can come off as kind of cheesy or over the top to both the uninitiated and the over exposed, but there’s no denying that power on the dancefloor. In other words, if these tracks fail to charm, try to imagine them blasting out of speakers as tall as you are, at 2 am, right as that ecstasy is coming on. Now you’re smiling, aren’t you? Throw those hands up, and let’s dance until dawn!

“Up” is embedded; Hear “Summer Nectar” on Bandcamp.

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REvolt3D – Guerilla War

A set of four hard hitting, breakbeat-driven Big Beat influenced electronic jams. Something about these is giving me strong late ‘90s/early ‘00s vibes – I’m getting hints of something like a less cheesy Fatboy Slim or more aggressive DJ Shadow. You’ll find a touch of cinematic flair at certain moments, especially on track 3, “The Oath,” which sounds like an intense theme from a movie about a cop deep undercover with the mob. The EP showcases an intense mixture of hard breaks and some unusual sound design with a ton of presence – aggressive and in-your-face from start to finish. 

(Sorry, no embed available. You’ll have to visit the artist’s site to hear these.)

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Daniel Miles & Happy Hour – “A Girl Named Whiskey”

Rootsy rock that features some of the best, most understated use of a saxophone I’ve heard in years. The song tackles a classic theme, comparing a woman to the charms of whiskey, and does so with a classic arrangement (drums, electric bass and two guitars: one acoustic, one electric) plus the aforementioned sax, which adds an incredible dimension to the fairly standard rock setup. 

It’s a smart addition that really sets the song apart and takes it to another level. This is the kind of well-executed, blue-collar, dive-bar rock that used to be the lifeblood of underground music but is increasingly hard to find these days. For those that still live and die by this stuff,  this could very well feel like a revelation. 

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