delano smith: an odyssey

ltd repress for sushitech's 15th anniversary. coloured vinyl. Delano Smith is one of the first artists who come to mind when speaking about Detroit house and techno. Born in Chicago and raised in Detroit, Delano's career started in the late '70s DJing together with the godfather of Detroit house, Ken Collier. Delano was one of Ken's "students" and during the '80s, started to spin a mixture of disco and funk. It was during those years that, like all legendary DJs, he started to develop his own sound to what we know today as "house" music and then later on, techno. During the early years, Delano would get to play records in front of now-legendary DJs such as Derrick May and Jeff Mills. Then, around 10 years ago, Delano decided to take all of his DJ experience and bring it to the studio. Shortly afterwards, he started his own label called Mixmode and started to release records that are still played by the leading DJs on the scene today from Ricardo Villalobos, Daniel Bell to Laurent Garnier and Derrick May. A few years ago, Delano joined forces and formed a deep relationship with Sushitech. The first release on the label and a now very sought-after limited release, was with long-term Detroit buddy Norm Talley. In addition to a string of releases and playing at all the main label parties, Delano has cemented himself as one of the leading artists on the label. It was then only natural that he should want to release his first album on the same label that he has become such a big part of. Contained within the album, Delano shows us the musical world he is living in today. Taking all of his experiences from the past years, all the various styles of records he has played and all of the inspiration that has soaked into his soul from playing in major clubs and cities around the globe, the album comes together as a single entity and represents the sound of Delano Smith and his work with Sushitech. The album sound is deep, lush and dry, just as you would expect from a true Detroit legend. Moving all the way from deep house to techno, Delano and Sushitech have collected his best works during the last 2 years and compiled an album of new tracks and unreleased rare mixes that should be a welcome addition to any collector or DJ. This is an album not to be missed.