This album quite simply defies categorisation. So much so that it’s going to be easier for me to start by telling you what it isn’t, than to steam straight into flailing around in vain trying to describe what it actually is. It’s not easy listening, that’s for sure. Well, not at first anyway. Although, after a short while, you do find yourself drifting off into a kind of head-nodding, groove-induced coma. It certainly isn’t organic, in the sense that the sounds and effects used have never been within 100 miles of, say, a guitar or a trumpet, or any other kind of acoustic instrument for that matter. And, most importantly, it sure as hell isn’t to be ignored. For, the music of Viennese beat-meister Dorian Concept is unashamedly synthetic, electronic and beat-driven, and yet (because of the man’s evident talent with a keyboard and his supreme production skills) it is so very, very musical. It isn’t just a neck-snapping beat here and a random squelch there; it is all intricately woven harmonies and textured grooves, crafted with a deft touch and full of a delightfully wonky jazziness. And, the balance is just right. You could just as easily find this music reverberating from within a blacked-out Hummer as you could in a contemporary Jazz nerd’s cans. Everyone should give this polished gem a try, but, for simplicity’s sake, fans of Harmonic 313, Dabrye and Kindred Spirits’ ‘Beat Dimensions’ collection should not sleep on this.
