Digital Disco
So most of you all know me as that robot that's into dance music, right? Fine fine. I do like other kinds of music, but it is entirely true that my musical passions lie with a certain variety of beat driven goodness. It is when something like this Unai character, aka Erik Möller, comes along, that my musical curiosity really gets piqued - I owe it to my friend James for turning me on to this.
This "Blissful Burden" song is just a perfect slice of digital disco. So says I, and the folks who released it, Berlin-based Force Tracks, ne Digital Disco Inc., part of the Force Inc. Music Works group - there were some business shake-ups and name-changes they went through that I don't fully understand, but it would seem that they are back in full swing after all of that. But I digress...
Unai lives and works in Uppsala, Sweden, where he's been making music for Force Tracks/Disco Inc, and Raum (all in Germany), and San Francisco's Naked Music among a handful of other labels, since the mid 90s. This song in and of itself is a delicate piece of work - cruising comfortably around 120bpm, with a wobbling bassline, layered with glitchy blips and bloops and synth stabs, and Möller's high vocals nuzzled down into the mix. It song comes off of his new album, A Love Moderne, nine tracks of this gorgeous digital pop music. The record really is solid throughout, and feels quite versatile: there are songs here that could work great in disco or minimal techno mixes, and the album as a whole makes for great headphone listening, or great after-hours comedown listening.
This is the second full-length album Möller has released as Unai, and along with a big handful of EPs and remixes to his credit, I think this record will almost certainly help make his name much better known. You can - and should - purchase A Love Moderne from our friends at Forced Exposure, download it from iTunes, or visit your favorite local indie retailer to get your own copy. Seriously.
Also, if you enjoy this, I strongly recommend you seek out the Digital Disco compilations as well - one of the tracks from A Love Moderne ("I Like Your Style") appears on Digital Disco 2 in a different form. Another reference point that you should hear, or already own, is another Force Tracks-released artist, Luomo, in particular his 2003 album The Present Lover.