Is Vision Dance the sound of Underground Quality's Jus-Ed breaking out to the wider world? It'd be tempting to say so, especially given the fact that it's the producer's first release on an imprint other than his own. It also features some of his expansive work yet. The 4/4 pump of Ed's deep house work is in full effect on some tracks, but on others there's a different sort of stomp on offer. Vision Dance is Ed's second album in the past 18 months, and it sounds like it—experiments abound.
When you say "experiments" with regards to Jus-Ed's productions, it's all a matter of scale. So much of his work is floor fodder—deep floors, but floors nonetheless. We're not talking about avant-garde classical flourishes; the strings still beam in keys we've all heard before. The major differences here are in the way the beats are constructed. "Project London 1" has a steady throb, but everything around it is woozy and disorienting, from the chorus of voices to the chittering hi-hat. You can warm up to it by song's end, but there's no guarantee you'll make it that far.
As a home listener, I'm not sure whether you're meant to get there anyway: All of Vision Dance's tracks are almost seven minutes or more and are clearly built for DJs. The CD format here seems besides the point—a way to get a lot of material out at once. As someone who seems to be writing quickly (train rides seem to be a major theme here) and often, he appears to have a lot of it. Much like his good friend Move D, Ed seems to operate on the assumption that the more material you have out in the world, the more likely someone is going to find something they like.
Once upon a time, this wasn't the case. So much of Next Level sounded like the same level as before. Vision Dance, however, has a few different shades of Ed that we haven't heard before. Not all of them are quite as developed as others. "A Little Deeper" is assured because he's made it 50 times before. "Ice 592" is fresh and messy at the same time. It's not quite next level yet, but he's getting closer than ever before.
Buy DJ Jus-Ed - Vision Dance at
Tracklist: DJ Jus-Ed - Vision Dance
 01. A Little Deeper
02. Acid Techno
03. Emotion
04. Ice 592
05. Project 1 London
06. Project 2 London
07. Stuck in a Train to Berlin
08. The Truth
09. This Shit is Hot Re-Scrub
10. Train Ride to Offenbach
| 
