- While you may have never heard of the aseptically-named International Records Recordings, there is a good chance you're familiar with the output of its parent label—Areal Records. After seven years of establishing a consistent lo-fi techno sound, the Areal crew have harvested enough release-worthy-but-different material to justify the leap into sub-label territory. Setting the tone for the IRR sound, which according to Ada will be "connected to house/downtempo/electro-acoustic", is the Galway native John Daly. Daly's premiere continues the tradition he began with releases on his own label Feel Music: synth-heavy deep house with a space disco flavor.
'Solitaire' introduces itself with a wavering melodic theme reminiscent of Jean-Michel Jarre's spacey ambient works. Eventually a looping funk bassline works its way into the picture accompanied by the usual artillery of disco percussion. The synths win the day here, however, overpowering the dancefloor elements and relegating them firmly to the pocket. The end result is a deep groove that would work well at the tail end of a sunrise set.
On 'Back It Up', Daly interweaves elements with enough sonic separation so that the end result gives the listener the impression that they've stumbled onto a street where car radios and shop PAs have all mysteriously fallen into sync with one another. A clockwork beat pulses alongside a shuffling half-bar bass loop, and an ambient pad form the canvas of the track. On top of this, Daly adds snares and claps that take the whole thing back to the '70s. 'Back It Up' may lack some of the beef found in 'Solitaire', but it makes up for it with more intriguing textures.
TracklistA Solitaire
B Back It Up