Buzzin Electronic Music

Balance Series 016: Agoria

In two separate hour long mixes for the Balance Series, Agoria (French Techno Producer Sebastien Devaud) blends atmospheric, oblique at times electronica that sends you on such a journey you can’t help but wonder at the end of it just where it is you have gone and come back to.

The first CD is full of haunting melodies that start off quiet then climax to a lushness you’d expect to find in movie soundtracks.  Guitar riffs jostle for space amongst house beats superimposed with opera vocals.

Driving bass lines are filled out and rounded by stripped out vocals that gets smashed straight into an old school disco sound straight from the it’s New York hey days.  Agoria’s blending of so many different genres typifies the moniker of the compilation series- Balance.

The second CD moves us out of the 9 am post party warm fug created by the first CD and sends us back onto the dance floor with a more recognizable Techno sound.  It seems Agoria’s talent is to include the persistent 4/4 beat whilst manipulating off kilter tracks and layering them.

He cleverly plays tracks then later re-introduces key parts of them further into the mix.  The musical journey becomes full of moments of recognition that requires a certain level of attentive listening.  The pay off for this listening is your head exploding with the madness and brilliantness of his composition.

He hasn’t been indulgent of only big name artists for the mixes but cuts and splices the well known such as LCD Soundsystem, Tosca, Mark Broom and his own production with 12 new artist’s unreleased tracks, including Kid A, The Same and Arandel.

I think this gives freshness to both CD’s and shows not only an incredible talent but also a desire to forge his own path and create a very unique sound.   I would love to see him DJ, I can’t imagine how overwhelming his set would be.  He’s playing at Fabric the 13th of this month.  I highly recommend going there.

For more information visit www.myspace.com/agoriagoria