Veröffentlicht
Aug 17, 2015
- From Factory Records to Modern Love, Manchester has always been a reliable source of exquisitely gloomy music. At the center of its scene today is meandyou, a label and club night that, since starting some seven years ago, has consistently pushed heady and slightly warped sounds alongside more party-friendly fare. Herron, who runs the outfit with Alexander Taber and Andrew Lyster and owns their venue (The Soup Kitchen), nicely captures meandyou's vibe with his first solo EP, The Night Garden.
We last heard from Herron (real name Sam Lewis) earlier this year, when his track "Lost Groove" wrapped up the fantastic Workshop 21. The Night Garden gives us five more productions in the same ilk: drab, downtempo groovers with lots of murky detail. At 117 BPM, "Dismantling The House" and "Force Of Habit" are the record's most playable tracks. The former has a balmy atmosphere and frothy drum section, with summery hand percussion offsetting its dingy color palette. The latter has a bit more oomph, with crisp, syncopated kicks and foreboding metallic groans, but still maintains a lush ambience. "Feet First" is slower and more forlorn, but loaded with snappy claps and hi-hats that keep it bubbling over.
The rest of the record pushes the boat out a bit farther. "Venture" is all grating textures and dilapidated rhythms; "Minor Hazard" drifts across the kind of ocean floor landscape Rhythm & Sound always did so well. DJs will reach for the other three tracks, but these two show the wider scope of Herron's muddy sound.
TracklistA1 Dismantling The House
A2 Feet First
B1 Minor Hazard
B2 Force Of Habit
B3 Venture