- Warm, uplifting house from Aarhus.
- Natal Zaks, AKA Central, is a dab hand at many things. He's a great DJ, a talented visual artist and a canny and organised label manager, running, in collaboration with various friends in the Danish city of Aarhus, three popular outlets: Help Recordings, No Hands and Regelbau. He's also, of course, a dance music producer, who excels at making house. Tracks like "Drive," "Convenient Departures" and "Basil (Version Intégrale Club)" present a striking take on the sound, unashamedly retro yet also modern. This style dominates his charming second solo album, Om Dans (or "about dance" in English).
Om Dans is Zaks' first LP to be released on vinyl, which suggests that it was made for DJs. Listening to its nine tracks, that much seems obvious—all but one would work in the club. That said, they're not all bangers. Anyone familiar with Zaks' oeuvre will know he moves freely within the house genre, as comfortable crafting feathery deep jams and '90s-indebted bombs as he is poppy vocal hits. On Om Dans, there's no crossover smash to rival "Drive" or "I Know," but it's big on tender tones and slamming grooves. The mood is cosy and uplifting, and the execution is excellent.
Zaks has a knack for writing wicked grooves, which we see across the album's peak-time tracks. "Doing This," the opener, eventually gets a little busy, but the first two minutes, when the gorgeous bassline thunders in, really get you in the mood. "Be Your Lady" is deeper, with another killer groove decorated with agile percussion and zapping synth flourishes. "Dancemove," camp and catchy, has more personality, powered by a lively 135-BPM beat and a cosmic disco-style melody. All, though, pale in comparison to "Mix A," whose warmth and compositional harmony make it the LP's standout and one of the best tracks Zaks has ever made.
Save for "Mix A," the best moments on Om Dans happen when Zaks steps away from the dance floor. The practically beatless "The Sleep" marks the midway point with a beautiful melange of plump bass tones and dawn twinkles. The other tracks all have kick drums, though they're softer, more subtle pulse than driving force. Of these, the album's final two cuts are the strongest. All organic percussion and misty rainforest textures, "T.E.M." recalls the work of one of Zaks' biggest influences, his younger brother, Milan (AKA DJ Sports). "Upward Motion" has a similar feel, hazy and skittish, but with a wilder energy, thanks to a spindly earworm lead. Around the eight-minute mark, the kick drum slowly slips away, leaving a gentle rattle of percussion. Soon after, that too fades away. All that remains is the sound of a whistle in the breeze.
Tracklist01. Doing This
02. Milo
03. Mix A
04. Be Your Lady
05. The Sleep
06. Fresh+
07. Dancemove
08. T.E.M.
09. Upward Motion