Lewie Day is coaxed out of hiding for a self-titled record on the Music From Memory offshoot.
Watch a video for Kangaroo Ground, the Australian producer’s newly released record for Tim Sweeney’s label.
When considering the careers of certain electronic producers, it’s possible to accurately pinpoint their “breakthrough moment”. In some cases, this may be a 12” single that crossed over into the mainstream, a surprise dancefloor anthem or revelatory remix. In other instances, it’s a track, EP or -very occasionally – an album in which they abandoned their trademark sound in favour of something more adventurous, densely layered or musically complex. Melbourne producer Lewis Day’s breakthrough came in 2013 with the release of Desperate Pleasures, his first – and so far only – outing on Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space imprint.
In this month’s Scratching the Surface column, Scott Wilson looks at the increasingly maligned nu-disco genre, and some of the labels and artists who are using its legacy to create fresh sounds.
There’s always something rather enjoyable about seeing a producer fulfill their potential, whilst developing their style to take in new sounds, moods and textures. Not everyone achieves this, of course; some are happy to settle into one groove and exploit it, while others just don’t have what it takes to re-cast their music in an interesting new light. Under his Tornado Wallace guise, Melbourne producer Lewie Day has been threatening to deliver great things for some time. His releases have always been solid, but there was always a feeling that there was more to come.
Tornado Wallace is the latest addition to Tim Sweeney’s burgeoning Beats In Space label.
This week saw Pépé Bradock take a rare foot outside of his Atavisme label with a new record on the Acid Test imprint.
Tornado Wallace turns in eighty minutes of sparkling house both old and new for our latest podcast.
In what can only be described as a bona fide coup, Delusions Of Grandeur have collared celebrated Planet E and Rush Hour artist Recloose for their latest release – and thrown in a Tornado Wallace remix for good measure.
Australian producer Tornado Wallace will return to the Delusions Of Grandeur imprint in November with the three-track Underground Sugar Caves EP, featuring a remix from the Idjut Boys.
We have two pairs of tickets to give away for this Saturday’s No Fit State party hosted by Electric Minds and Mulletover, featuring former Juno Plus One to Watch Tornado Wallace, who will be bringing some Australian sunshine to Stoke Newington with his mix of deep house and disco.
When the inevitable music media-wide glance back at 2010 takes place sometime towards the end of December, those with an eye for the point where disco meets house will have one or two sentences of praise for Tornado Wallace. The mustachioed alter ego of Melbourne based producer Lewie Day – known for housier productions on murmur and 8bit – released a breakthrough EP on Jimpster’s Delusions Of Grandeur imprint replete with Linkwood remix earlier this year which turned heads.
Subsequent remixes for Eddie C and Loin Brothers on Hometaping and Future Classic as well as another Delusions of Grandeur twelve inch have really marked Wallace out as one to watch in the coming twelve months. Our man down under, James Manning from Tea & Techno, managed to pin down Mr Wallace for a little chat about how it all began and where it is going.
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Smoothly casting aside all preconceptions about thirteen being an unlucky number, Delusions of Grandeur reach the release milestone with another classy twelve inch. Australian wunderkid Tornado Wallace is once again at the controls with three cuts which fully demonstrate how his panache for production has developed since he debuted on DOG with “Paddlin” earlier this year.
Since then, young Wallace has delivered some fine remixes – with the recent deep Detroit refix of Eddie C on Hometaping impressing in particular – which have secured plenty of play from the likes of Cottam, The Revenge and Tony Lionni. Always Twirling is likely to promote Wallace to the premier league of deep house and disco taste makers such as the aforementioned.
The title track hogs the A Side and is characterised by a vocal hook advertising the return of Wallace. It’s the kaleidoscopic treatment of pads that draw you in though, and the beguiling rattle of 808s and soaring strings that leave the lasting impression on this track that increases with emotive potency as it progresses.
The sweet sensation aroused on “Always Twirling” dissipates with the onset of darkness and intensity inherent in B Side opener “Twirl & The Beanstalk”. A raw dusty beatdown is augmented by a twisting synth rhythm that worms its way deep into your cerebral cortex. The surfeit of vocal edits that maintain this rhythm become barely recognisable beneath the increasingly chaotic array of percussive delight that grows to dominate the track.
The final “Whispering Twirl” affords your senses a much needed break, switching down a notch or two, laying down electric piano melodies over a bumping mid tempo boogie beat. Generous usage of filtered chords adds yet more emotive feeling to the groove.
Tony Poland
Flashback, Endless Flight and Jiscomusic are just three of the labels that have bestowed upon our ears and hips the musical brilliance of Canadian producer du jour Eddie C. Equally, Hometaping Is Killing Music have impressed with every single one of their releases since the debut from The Revenge in October last year. Thus, it’s not rocket science to expect great things from the former’s debut on the latter, and you will not be disappointed. A core vocal sample drives “Tell Me” and is wrapped in layer upon layer of typically intricate production from the Canadian. Crisp 808 syncopation drops in and out, string arrangements sit deep in the mix and the warmest of basslines running throughout gives the track that extra dancefloor impetus.
Rising Australian talent Tornado Wallace is employed to remix the track, adding a sheen of hissing Detroit deepness to proceedings, with midnight synth lines and soaring chords floating atop the cavernous bass, undulating percussion and submerged vocals of a slightly slower but just as impressive version. Special praise however is reserved for “Organised”, the old school track that separates the aforementioned. A brilliantly sweaty organ riff is central to this jacking bit of warehouse fodder, with vocal harmonies and crowd noises cut up and slipped into the spaces between the pounding beat and throbbing bassline. Excellence as per usual from all involved.
Tony Poland
