- The restless French upstart continues his quest of making the bounciest tech house imaginable.
- William Montana, AKA Sweely, has released 13 12-inches in the past four years. This release schedule (especially when Adele is clogging up pressing plants) is even more impressive when you consider it's just a fraction of the music that Montana is making. He has weekly dumps demos of hardware grooves on his SoundCloud and his "Home Jams" on YouTube are a must-watch, as the mustachioed producer improvises in his studio with a cigarette dangling from his lips (occasionally accompanied by his enthusiastic cheerleader, Victor). This staggering output has resulted in a rich archive of house music in all of its guises. From minimal to tech to deep to breakbeat to broken, if it's a variant of house, odds are that Montana has dabbled in it (and likely released a full 12-inch). After an appearance on last year's scene-defining The Sound Of Limo compilation, Montana returns to Gene On Earth's label for another best-in-show EP that channels his restless energy and excitement.
Like a number of the producers in the Sound Of Limo circle, Montana first rose to prominence beyond his native Nice skateparks by making crackly deep house during the lo-fi micro epoch of the mid-2010s (had he just a slightly more ironic name, his All The Reasons EP might have reached "Winona" levels). But Montana stumbled onto a unique sound in 2019 on a pair of EPs for Parisian label Automatic Writing and Leeds-based Butter Side Up. Montana took the restrained sound design of microhouse and added in some quirky, dry percussion, chunky as-can-be basslines and the occasional '90s hip-hop vocal sample. The results were two instantly sold-out records that saw the producer forge a tech house signature that was as groovy as it was sleazy.
Danc'n In The Garage is the perfection of that sound. The standout track "ChatBoulette" is the Sweely ideal: a campy, compressed organ and chords lifted from '80s AM radio trill over crisp drumming and a warm, fuzzy bassline. The only shortcoming is its four-minute length. The other tracks are just as boisterous. The synth on the title track has a sharp bite, but the vocal chops and vinyl spin backs keep things fun. "Recenter Yourself" is as springy as trampoline while the modular work calls to mind Younandewan's recent noodling. But if you like the Sweely of yore, the record's B2, "Don't Push It Too Far" pitched down 5 BPM or so sounds like it could have been put out on Distant Hawaii. It still has his trademark bouncy bass and the occasional synth phosphene, but the lead melody is gentler, almost delicate. It makes for a delightful finish to Montana's best release yet.
TracklistA1 Re-center Yourself
A2 ChatBoulette
B1 Danc'n In The Garage
B2 Don't Push It Too Far