ryan davis: particles of bliss

This is the debut album from Ryan Davis. Davis has been recording music since 2006. He has produced for Manual Music, Cocoon, Proton, Areal, Archipel, Wunderbar and many other labels. His battle with established DJ structures led to the founding of his own label, Back Home, where he features new talents that share his interest in melodic techno. His release in 2007 on Klang Gymnastik, the Transformer EP, directly put him on the map and led to the Zyrial Soundfood EP in 2009 on the Dutch label, Manual, which can be considered his breakthrough. Two EP releases followed on Traum and it was the Routes Of Life EP that created an even bigger following and led to the idea of finally recording an album. The album consists of 11 never-released tracks that highlight his talent to keep away from preset formulas and turn toward music composition. The album opens with "The Enchanted Garden," a piano piece that flows, flies, observes with one eye -- keeping a perfect balance with sparks of electronica added. "Where The Right Things Are" is a haunted track, and in a gentle way is full of passion and sadness, madness and melancholy in the vein of New Order, King Of The Slums and Blue Orchids -- a great shoegazing track. "Beluga" kicks off with a pulsating pond of energy that shows the enormous composition skills Ryan is capable of. "Break The Night" articulates perfectly the heavy atmosphere the night radiates when a fine baroque feeling is created through a rotating "miniature" melody, circulating and winding its body through the gaps the bassline has created. "The Field" acts like a hi-speed flying camera sent to forbidden areas to record footage. Arousing, spectacular, triggering heart attacks, the track has a breathtaking tempo and is enchanting at the same time. "Aquarius" is light and floating with a classic feel, while "Head In The Clouds" has a bit of that early Aphex Twin feeling to it. "Entangled Life" articulates its strength with a mean, rectangular bassline, and "When Rain Drops" makes raindrops out of industrial romance. "Eyes Wide Open" has a nice melodic perspective with a great synth and a broad frequency range. The album closes with "Dragonheart," an emotional vocal ballad with a shoegazing edge to it. Making this a more personal finish definitely makes this album more special.