- Michael Gracioppo's debut release is one of the few on MCDE Recordings from anyone other than Motor City Drum Ensemble. It's easy to see what Danilo Plessow saw in the promising Montreal producer. They both produce tracks that gush with emotion without it getting in the way of the groove.
Gracioppo's music is also indebted to Montreal's love for microhouse and minimal techno. He prefers sparse drum sounds that are thin and trebly like hand claps, arranging his intricate sounds in the vein of vintage Perlon without falling into a retro trap. On "My So-Called Friends," the effect is straight-up disorienting, with a sampled refrain that's layered over pitch-manipulated iterations of itself. It's not a club track per se, but it could do some damage with a strong kick drum mixed underneath.
That's just what NYC deep house cornerstone Fred P does with his "Reshape," kicking its ass into gear with a galloping kick and smearing the vocals like finger paint. The result is akin to one of the rainy-day moments from his recent Codes And Metaphors LP. "Untitled" replaces the seesaw vocal with a shimmering piano sample. But this one is all about the details: the drums scratch and shudder, and every so often the beat picks up with a few well-placed thuds. These little off-kilter touches make Gracioppo an immediate head-turner.
Tracklist A1 My So-Called Friends
A2 Untitled
B My So-Called Friends (Fred P Reshape)