It’s been a long while since I’ve posted anything on the Resonant Vibes blog. There’s a ton of reasons (and excuses) for why that is, but at the moment tapping away on my keys to wring out another review just feels right. To be honest, I don’t get all that eager banging out online reviews ad infinitum regardless of how much I like the site (and I like RV way more than most). However, in the 22 years I’ve been pimping other folks’ music I’ve learned that the alloted amount of special full lengths per annum is only a scant pair or trio. And when one of those albums ends up falling into my lap I still find it is my civic duty to gush endlessly at as many outlets as will have me. It’s a good thing most sane and responsible people in this industry don’t like me otherwise you’d have to hear way more about how awesome the new album Tarry Not is from NorCal producer/DJ Limaçon on Toronto based Thoughtless Music.

I live out West, in fact I actually live quite near Limaçon’s adopted hometown of Santa Rosa, CA so in many ways I can relate to where he’s coming from in terms of musical influences on this album. What I know is that it is easy to fall into either of the pitfalls of the all-encompassing San Francisco scene, which looms so near. Will it be the mellow house grooves of the past decade or the more current minimal trends that have swept the region? Tarry Not successful splits the middle of the two camps because Limaçon (aka Chris Lee) -in true outsider fashion- appears to owe no allegiance to either, instead borrowing liberally from both. It is a surprising move, especially considering his minimal leaning track record, but album cuts like “Labels”, “Shaken”, and “Sans Rip” are ass-shakingly funky in an old West Coast house kind of way. Of course that’s just my opinion, but I also feel that this album is an adequate evolution of the San Francisco techno scene – moving the general flow away from what detractors have labelled as a “proggy afterparty haze of sound collisions” back into the world of floor friendly house music -with a strong emphasis on MUSIC.

It’s quite refreshing to hear full-fledged melodies based in some sort of logical modality for a change out here at the far western outposts and if there’s nothing more to this album than this it would be enough to consider it noteworthy. Thankfully, Lee makes more than just funky basslines and clever melodies which helps his first album transcend the aforementioned trappings of the San Francisco scene. On Tarry Not he creates quality tracks and then strings them together into a sequence that works well allowing the tension and individual character of the compositions create a definite path for the album to flow through. This fusion of elements and flow is what makes the album one of the bright spots in 2010 (thus far).

Of course, this is all just one guy’s opinion….