- David Russo, AKA HKE, and his Dream Catalogue label specialize in theatrical ambient music made with hi-fi production values. This formula came to a head earlier this year with Dragon Soul, a grandiose ambient album that took the prolific producer an unusually long time to make. No Man Is God, his latest album, is the first chapter in his Sequence 777 series, a collection of seven albums—each with seven tracks—released through seven different labels in Dream Catalogue's orbit. The LP, less conceptual than usual, delves into beat-driven music and hardvapour, a subgenre of contemporary dance music made by producers with no background in dance music.
Russo doesn't necessarily approach dance music with DJs in mind. His tracks build in strange ways and go unexpected places. "Pure Power"'s sudden tempo changes—from techno to broken beat—would make it a nightmare for DJs to beatmatch with. It also has one of his big THX-style synth washes, a holdover from ambient records like Dragon Soul. HKE plants other recognizable features in new contexts—"Shiva," for example, features the mournful chord progression that appeared as a leitmotif on "Dragon Soul," this time embedded into an emotionally conflicting framework of pan flute synths, rousing tablas and a moody bassline.
The genres and ideas from which he draws are as all-over-the-map as the tracks themselves. "God Form" evokes '10s-era post-dubstep with a yearning vocal sample. On the 100-BPM chugger "Broken," a collaboration with Deep State, Russo tries out industrial techno. "Flower" has shades of Nine Inch Nails. Russo even incorporates a post-grunge touchstone in the album's sole misstep, "Blurry," a cover of Puddle Of Mudd with a slight musical backing for Russo's hushed voice.
Though Russo has portrayed the Sequence 777 records as quickly made castoffs, that would be an unfair assessment. Tracks like "God Form" or "Shiva"—written with the same affecting melodies and deft synth work of his ambient music—are as impressive as anything else in his catalogue. Over the course of his work with Dream Catalogue, Russo has painted vivid pictures with synths and samples. On No Man Is God, he proves he can make them move, too.
Tracklist01. God Form
02. Pure Power
03. Shiva
04. Flower
05. Broken feat. Deep State
06. Choke Out
07. Blurry