Your eyes open to the pink fluorescence of the new day’s sun rising from the ocean. The waves, flowing with the full moon’s influence, continue to crash boisterously onto the shore. The sand beneath you is cold, damp from the mist, but it begins to bake under the glaring sun. You rise to your feet and walk along the shoreline, until you come to a paltry-looking bungalow. You step inside, and emerge into a large room filled with dancing bodies . . .
I’m a firm believer in the holistic quality of dance music and its ritualistic ability to right the most potent of wrongs, but I empathize with those that can’t seem to connect with the extroverted facets of modern, club-primed sounds. Many forget that dance music can be introspective, that listeners can instead opt for dancing on the inside. A Minor Thought is the newest full-length from Berlin producer Sebastian Genz, AKA Moomin.
This record is the cure for the listener that adores the buoyant grooves of house music, but ails from a disdain for the genre’s rambunctiously imposing elements. Gone are the force-fed lead melodies, replaced with warm synths, ocean samples, and basslines that embrace passionately rather than pummel mercilessly. The song structures are simple, soft, and subtle, yet they emanate with vivid life and contain compelling ideas abound.
There’s no doubt that Genz is versatile in his production — his concoctions of live drums, latin percussion, and classic 808 programming are ingenious — but variety certainly isn’t the name of the game on this collection of music. This artist has a distinct sound that he revels within, and if you can get down with one of his creations, you’ll fall deep into the open arms of the rest. If you’re seeking warm, dreamy house, this album is for you.
– stasi (@stasisphere)