Michael Claus (no relation to Santa) is a unique Bay area house artist. Exceptional synthesizer sounds and poly-rhythmic drum machine cascades fade in and out in tight grooves all locked in to a bass drum pulse. With pillow soft synth waves, some morphing basses, and laid back, concise beats; the tracks make for an excellent burn. The tones are familiar but also abstract while the production is crisp and organic sounding. This might be everything you'd expect from a solid house album and more!
"Past Era" has some amazing bubbling synths with canon delay. It brought me to a place of laid back I may not have previously known. The album has a specific flow to it. "Forests" is a beautiful synthesizer cascade forming a large polyrhythmic, modular soundscape. "Dissent" introduces a darker, more mysterious element (which reminded me of Brian Eno's Another Green World or Tangerine Dream) while maintaining elements of filter funk. "Tidal Shift" combines elements of drone with a complex yet heavy tom driven dance beat. "Ocean Side" may be my favorite tune on the record; its perhaps the funkiest and most house music oriented.
This self release is unfortunately sold out !!
https://michaelclaus.bandcamp.com/album/memory-protect
--"Jamband" Josh Brown
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