- Footwork's been the foundation for all manner of dance floor experiments in recent years, with producers like DJ Rashad, Om Unit and Mark Pritchard draping its ratcheting 808 skeleton with acid, jungle, techno and whatever else is to hand. But where rhythm has been their primary concern, Italian Gadi Sassoon offers a more melodic take. The result is footwork that you can't imagine people footworking to. "Dodecahedron," for example, is all brooding bass pulses and jazz-sampled snare work, as physicist Carl Sagan intones the dangers of letting myth overrule reason. It's a lovely way to come down after a hard night throwing shapes, but not something to set dance floors alight.
Equally "Bloodlines" and "Portals" inspire swaying more than dancing, with East Asian strings and bells flickering in and out of focus through syrupy pads. It's like Photek set to a new rhythm. "Dusty Red" is the only track that might make sense when you're standing up—its choral sweeps are no less emotive, but the drums and throbbing sub are a meatier presence. That footwork's rhythms can support both Rashad's madness and bath-time warmth should be welcomed. It seems there's plenty more to be mined from the Chi Town sound.
TracklistA1 Dusty Red
A2 Portals
B1 The Dodecahedron
B2 Bloodlines