- Is 1morning the funkiest young producer in modern-day techno?
- 2023 was one of the funkiest years for techno in recent memory, and I'd put my hand up to nominate Los Angeles' 1Morning for MFP (Most Funky Player). As a DJ and producer, he keeps it old school, playing vinyl with a deep love for all things '90s—particularly, as he explained to me via email, the percussive swagger of old-school UK producers like Dave Angel and Mark Williams. As a producer, though, his sound is entirely his own. He makes no-frills techno operating between 130 and 140 BPM, featuring swung drum patterns infused with elements of disco, jazz and bossa nova in the topline.
You could imagine a house DJ desperately trying to pitch down "Groove La Funk," the lead track from 1morning's first release of 2024, Legacy. The hand drums ricochet off a bassline that bobbles like a buoy in a hurricane. Halfway through, he chucks in some dubby chords and a clipped vocal to make this an early contender for 2024's grooviest techno track (pun unintended). The rest of Legacy also aims for the body and soul. "Palala" and "Dança da verão" look to the Southern Hemisphere, adding bossa nova flavours with humid hand drum lines and lilting melodies (the trumpet on "Dança da verão" is particularly bonkers). But they're built with the clinical precision of modern techno, like '90s Robert Hood remixing Gal Costa.
After the post-Covid BPM arms race, it was just a matter of time before a genre like hardgroove made a resurgence. It's only so fun to be assaulted by thwacking kick drums week in, week out. As 1Morning explained to me, "I work with melody a lot now so I like to keep it around 138 [BPM] because that's where I feel like the dynamics shine brighter than most faster tracks." These cuts aren't exactly slow, but they leave enough space for punters to actually dance, with bright synth loops and jazzy samples floating through the percussive scaffolding. Legacy is as fun and funky as it is functional.
Tracklist01. Groove La Funk
02. Legacy
03. Dança da verão
03. Palala