Never one to observe convention, then religiously follow it, it's safe to say that if you're looking for something musically out of leftfield, then Jay Haze is your man. The Pennsylvanian has led a chequered life - often known as much for his outspoken soundbites as his music - and the zig-zagging of his past matches the frequent sonic curveballs he's thrown out in his nine years behind the mixing desk.
Co-founder of the revered Tuning Spork, and later of the techno-lovers must-buy label Contexterrior, he's been around enough to know that to follow one path is one way to stagnation.
So it's on his own Tuning Spork imprint that emerges his next shift. Classical piano. Yes, you've heard correct. Teaming up with French composer Yann Tiersen, he takes his wistful piano and supplies the minimum of percussive fuss, and the result is Comptine d'un autre été: l'après-midi (for those less linguistically gifted, literally nursery rhyme of another summer: the afternoon).
It's about as far from his previous guises as releasing a reggae track, but while it's not immediately apparent it's a club record, give it time, and it'll work into even the most cynical mind.
While it's hardly production rocket science (how many tracks are an overproduced mess though?) its beauty is also its simplicity. Bound to turn up the noses of many a techno fan - you can sense this was almost done for that very reason, knowing Haze's sometimes abrasive train of thought - it's not hard to picture it drifting over the crowd as the sun rises, even if, thanks to the laws, that's unlikely to be Ibiza this summer. Likely to polarise opinion, it could just be the unexpected late-summer track of the year. Or it could sink without trace. Either way, like its creator, it doesn't sit on the fence.
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Artist: Yann Tiersen & Jay Haze Label: TuningSpork Records Tracklist More info |
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