Vapourspace - Sweep

It's not until the third track that a dance beat makes itself known on this the second album by Mark Gage, creator of Themes From Vapourspace, and even then don't expect the raved out one dimensional variety that plagued late night Euro airwaves in the late eighties. Instead enjoy a minimalist approach to the fundamentals of dance music. All the ingredients are certainly included but with a refreshingly different way of putting it all together.

Firstly there's the way in which the music builds, and although usually culminating in the expected peak it's obvious plenty of thought also went into how to get back down to zero. Rays is possibly the most obvious track, with a strong hook and infectious beat I expect to hear this around and about a lot, but even here Mark introduces elements that help build the track as opposed to filling it up.

The use of sweep-able EQ is adopted heavily on this album, hence the title, so if you're looking for examples of what sweep-able EQ is capable of doing to a sound you know where to go. There are parts within Gridlock that use the technique extensively, along with a great sounding rattly metallic sample that works really well with the analogue synth pads (also with sweeping VCF's).

With well over an hour of music included on the album most everyone will find something they like.

Rating - 787,244 (out of a possible 1,000,000)