- For those who have been observing the growth of the tech house scene of late, the name Kenneth Graham will not be unfamiliar.
The young, talented US based producer first wowed me with an EP he released on Plastic City Records in early 2000. "First Light" was very much in the same vein as EBE (Lucas rodenbush) and Terry Lee Brown Jnr, deep, dubby music that resonates with a kind of underwater feel. Admittedly that kind of tech house is not all tastes and the looped, minimalism of it can get a little tired. However what struck me about Kenneth was the emotion he put into that EP and for any of you who heard his criminally overlooked remix of Trancesetters "Synergy" on Hooj! will know what I mean. He is a master at looped groove music, showing real sensibility with the minimalism of his approach because while the music is locked, its never dull. "Synergy" is such an emotional record, however it demands attention and patience, maybe thats why it was sent to the back of the bins, like alot of outstanding tech house records.
Having said that, "Cryptograph", Grahams latest offering on Prime offshoot Controlteam, is a real sit-up-and-take-notice track, a ballsy tech house record that sways and moves with fierce authority. As always theres Grahams trademark complexity in the programming, the percussion and bass line launching straight at you rather thtan building up over bars. Its very funky, very percussive but has a real emotion it it due to the overlay of a great synth pattern. On a big system it would absolutely rock, sitting nicely with the stuff Ben Korbel or Phil Smart plays.
The flip is a jacking break house track, similar to Bushwackers stuff although not as intelligent. Its a rough, tough number that sounds like the breaky stuff Marco Carola does under his 7th Question moniker. This is an excellent EP, especially for moving the dancefloor between big tracks, however "cyrptograph" rocks on its own and Kenneth Graham is a producer to really watch out for.