- One of the drawbacks of being a talented producer is that people will always end up comparing your seminal works to your latest releases. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened when this writer listened to Thomas Melchior's new record for Lick My Deck. Happy memories of the sultry house of "Searching" or the playfully intricate but deeply melodic grooves of his 2007 No Disco Future album kept on resurfacing.
That's not to say that there's anything inherently wrong here; in fact, Melchior does a fine job on the title track, using a rolling drum arrangement that sounds lost in the grey area between early Derrick May productions like "The Dance" and early UK hardcore. Augmented by Melchior's trademark staccato percussion, a series of blips and bleeps and a wonderfully spaced out vocal sample that repeats "ah ya ya ya," it's a worthwhile addition to his small but perfectly formed catalogue. It's difficult to say the same about "Todo Mundo." While the track's tight drums and spacey vocal snippets are endearing and Melchior's arranging skills are beyond reproach, do we need yet another track that samples a random guy rambling on in Spanish? Thomas Melchior is a gifted, distinctive producer: He shouldn't have to resort to such lazy tricks.
Tracklist A Cinza De Fenix
B Todo Mundo