Buzzin Electronic Music

Milton Jackson debut album, Crash

Milton Jackson debut album, Crash is a perfect start to 2009.

On the strength of the 12″ Ghost in my Machine release, Freerange records offered Milton Jackson the chance to record an album, and here’s the result!

So many genres these days.  Would minimal techno deep house cover it? “Ghost in my machine” & “Crash” are stand out minimal deep house tracks both very worthy singles. But Milton Jackson has produced a great album mixing deep house with minimal trance and a bit of wonky electronica to boot.

I love the wonky rhythm of “Rhythm Track” and “Snap Crackle” is a great track – tipping its hat to mind-bending minmal techno.  This is right up my street.

Cycles (Album Version) is less deep and heavy, allowing for a  short “hands in the air” relief, a catch of breathe and then Crash is off again.

Milton Jackson’s wonky deep house delivers a perfect start to a freezing cold new year. The album twists and turns, keeping a freshness where other house albums fall short

The main influences and ideas shaping the record were a return to the organic, yet still quite techy sounds. Says Jackson, “I tried to infuse a bit of feeling and soul into the tracks as well. A lot of the inspiration came from old records by guys like Les Baxter who did quite a few ‘exotica’ records in the late 60s and early 70s.” Many of the samples on the album are from those early records but twisted into something a bit more modern. “I try to take influences from outside dance music if I can, as that’s the basis (hopefully) for a fresher sound. I also tried to infuse some Sci-Fi / space elements in there as well as I’m quite into that stuff.”

All of the music was produced on a Mac, with most of the tracks written in Jackson’s studio- an outhouse in his back garden which came about from the old lady next door complaining of noise levels! On the live front, Jackson is keen to get back to Japan, having played at Womb in Tokyo last year, and is also eager to DJ alongside Jimpster again. The two played this year’s Sonar and a few gigs after. Jackson will also play London’s End on New Year’s Eve- one of the last ever due to the club sadly closing.

Moody, compelling and upbeat, this is deep house at its finest; replete with subtle, wandering nocturnal motifs, cinematic strings, rolling bass-lines and techy bleeps, the slick off-key, tender-tough melodies display an impressive depth in production.

Milton Jackson – Crash is released on 23rd February on Freerange Records.