- Is it just me or are more dance music artists trying to actually write music these days instead of just churning out twelve more inches of dancefloor fodder? Of course once you've written a few of these "musical" pieces you might get the bright idea of putting them together as an album. Chicagoan Billy Dalessandro has had this bright idea twice, following up his first long player ‘Midievalization’ (Resopal, 2003) with this month’s 'Starcity', an album full of fine musical moments which shows why he's the current techno darling of Chicago-infatuated German label Resopal.
‘The Interview’ is a fine start: two celebrities interview one other in between bouts of rushing pads and high-end technoid percussion (sans kick). Evidently the pads weren't the only thing rushing as the stars confess on national TV they owe their success to "drugs". The honesty is refreshing, and I could swear the guy's voice is Jon Stewart (of recent Academy Award fame) but what do I know? I'm a trainspotter not a starspotter.
‘The Interview’ flows nicely into ‘Falling Soul", a solid atmospheric warm-up that eventually soars. The muted acid ripples of “Zanzare” is a dip into more minimal pools but the crunchy German breakfast of "Sake" only ends up treading water. It’s not without atmosphere but other tracks on the album really demonstrate Dalessandro's classical background and musical potential.
'Slow Rain' really slows things down with some icey cool pads over breaks with an Oriental riff – nice! Elsewhere is the super-emotional brokenbeat minipiece ‘Cynthia; deep, sombre techno in ‘Powerloss’; and ‘Starcity’, a tight as fuck bouncy tech-house cut that climbs around a nicely twisted bass. Rounding out the album is an intellectual hip-hop track ‘Transatlantic’ and the new acid-based minimal single and Gaiser (M_nus) co-production "Come with Me", which does the damage using subtle vocals.
This album will be appreciated by two sets of folks: there’s a lot here to delve into for fans of the many shades of techno, and listeners wanting something with a little soul will find nourishment in the more atmospheric tracks. I would have liked a little more of that in lieu of the repetitive stuff but you can’t please everybody. Dalessandro comes pretty close this time with ‘Starcity’. You could do worse than give it a chance to do that for you.