Search - Moodymann :: Silent Introduction

Some of the Slickest, Grooviest, hip-shaking, head-bobbing i

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 02/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kenny Dixon Jr, (aka Moodyman) might not be a household name in the Detroit house/ Techno circles, but those that consider themselves well learned the genre, take his work very seriously indeed. Admittedly, as wide a range as my music tastes run, I'd never heard of him before. That was before I picked up his 2004 "Black Mahogani" album. Which I come across...after checking several very positive reviews. I'll save you the details, but suffice to say that one listen to that album, sparked a furious (and expensive) scramble to pick up ALL of his albums.



Although stylistically each and every one of Moodyman's albums are largely in debt to a mixture of seriously sophisticated House and minimal techno, there are moods and themes that differ from album to album. This is Moodyman first album, which is actually a collection of previously unreleased tracks, and is by-and-large considered the `Holy Grail' of his output on CD. This is music that is suited to the home environment, because Moodyman is far too shrewd to churn out bass-speaker busting dance music, and instead works on confident, complex, and passionate house mixed with a R&B theme. Everything here is a work of love, and although some of would work in a club environment, a lot of the subtleties of the arrangements would be lost in the volume of a club. This is arguably some of the most brilliantly devised adult-orientated dance music, I've ever heard.



Moodyman likes to mess with time Signatures, flip ideas on it head, throw musical curve-balls, take and idea and create a new spin on it, or simply just make music for the head, as well as the feet. And it's not an exaggeration to state that Moodyman makes brilliant, twisted house/techno music, and mashes it up into his own mesmerising and idiosyncratic view, that seems to reflect no-one else's, and with a level of articulation and detail in his production that is (without overstating this) second to none. And, It's truly a marvel that he isn't a much, much bigger figure in the dance scene?? but from what I can gather, there's a hardcore group of fans, that pick up everything of his the moment it comes out (I now consider myself in that group), and thus people doesn't give people a chance to get acquainted with his music, and this is going to be one of the major failing of this record. Nothing to do with the music itself (which is exemplary), but more to do with the fact that this release has long since been deleted, and the label that initially released it ("Peacefrog"), never originally released it, in any large numbers, so you are unfortunately going to have to pay, over the odds for this (unless your incredibly lucky to find it cheap somewhere), and sure....I had to pay a fair bit of cash, to get this (thanks again, to the seller on Amazon), and I have absolutely no regrets about seeking this expensive gem out.

"

This is great, like you said

Jared Jennings | 05/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i'm glad i finally shelled out to get this. the price was more than i've spent in a while, but have been curious to hear it for a year or two. it's great, more disco/house than the minimal/micro i dig, but don't get me wrong, as a fan of those, this is ESSENTIAL to my collection. good beats with some soul thrown in to the electronic mix."