dcallen - What Is It This Time?

Hear The Track Here

It never fails to surprise me that I've been at this game now for over a decade, watching (and listening) to artists come and go, and I'm almost never surprised when someone does disappear (for a while or forever). Not surprised yeah, but that doesn't mean to say that there are certain artists I do miss and (hopefully) await their return. One such is electronica artist dcallen, who had other things going on there for a couple of years that kept him less active on the scene than previously, where he had built up a very nice reputation thanks to some very tasteful peices of music and a willingness to join in what was happening at the time. Of course, that Soundclick and the rejuvenated 'Click we live with at present are two different beasts and one of the things that seems to have got lost along the way is a vibrant (and active) forum community.

Well? Am I wrong?

Still, time moves one, and dcallen returns and delivers a couple of his specialties
as an immediate howdy, and it's as if the dam cur hadn't been away. Certainly Is This A Problem? (June 2007) and Closed For Repairs (October 2007) showed that young Dave (Ed: I say, bit cheeky what?) has lost none of his edge while was out and about and gained a lot more knowledge about production. You just couldn't make these tracks work so well without having a considerable amount of production/arrangement skills at your fingertips and either of these two tracks proves that. About the only thing dcallen and me have ever crossed swords over is style, can't fault the mans musical knowledge.

His work usually comes in a couple of blends, pure electronic fukry and a more structured - recognisably more commercial style. What Is It This Time is from the former camp, being essentially an electronica soundscape that dcallen drapes with all kinds of sweeps, spheres and anything else that hangs on to a note for long enough. It's therefore fairly sparse instrumentally, only including the slightest of drum/hihat percussion, most of the rhythm tasks are carried by sequences. Its certainly a nice peice and one his many listeners will lap up but - had I to be honest - have heard better but that is almost certainly down to the style, it isn't something I would normally search out.

Electronica, tagged and bagged as only dcallen can. Recommended.