Former progressive house producer Chris Fortier reveals a new direction on his debut album. 'As Long As The Moment Exists' arrives in June.

Chris Fortier was one of America's prog figureheads in the late nineties and early noughties, releasing mix albums and 12"s on labels such as Bedrock and his own label Fade. But two years ago, Fortier surprised fans by revealing a new musical agenda on his mix CD 'Balance 007', bringing together René Breitbarth, D.Diggler and Mathew Jonson for a more techno-oriented take on dance music. As a producer, recently Fortier has been releasing tech house under the stealth alias 40oz, handing in rerubs of everyone from !!! to Alexkid to Alexi Delano. Look out for further surprises next month when he drops his first longplayer.

'As Long As The Moment Exists' was produced by Fortier over the course of 2006 and melds ambient electronica, 303 acid and dubby tech house. Is the album another "coming of age" release in the same vein as 'Balance 007'? "For sure, but I feel that way about every piece of music I create or any mixed album I do," Fortier told RA. "Like any artist album, it is a personal look into that artist so it is a reflection of all the influences and new directions I am going in as well as where I have been."

The longplayer also breaks a five year production drought for Fortier who got caught up in the wheelings and dealings of the music biz after moving to New York. "That was a disappointing realization that after five years, I had barely made five tracks so I made a conscious decision to strip away all the other things I was involved in and concentrate fully on me and my music, to get back to being creative. I really wanted to work on something that was more expansive in scope, something with more substance, and not just something specifically for DJing."

To celebrate Chris Fortier's debut album, RA is giving readers the chance to download an exclusive track from the album. Check out a special edit of the techno workout 'Under Your Nose'.

Free download: Chris Fortier - Under Your Noise (album edit) (download limit reached)

'As Long as the Moment Exists' Tracklist

1. Sunday is a Travel Day
2. Portion Control
3. Under Your Nose
4. Fantastic Diversion
5. Fattback
6. Stay Tuned
7. Believe
8. Waste not, Want not
9. Deep Throbmostess
10. Belt Seat Fasten
11. Deviated Septum
12. Quote Unquote
13. B Dub
14. Dont Hide What you Believe
15. As Long as the Moment Exists

Chris Fortier 'As Long As The Moment Exists' is released on EQ/Stomp on June 11, 2007. 15 Comments