Blizzardo – Challenger EP
There’s something about the claim of “installation artist” that makes my heart sink. Rightly or wrongly, I see it as a benchmark for pretentiousness and music for artistic haircuts, rather than the feet or heart. But sometimes… things shine through. Free download.
Blizzardo not only has claims to be an ”installation artist” but compounds it in my prejudices by adding the lesser but serious crimes of “architectural designer” and coming from New York, home of the hipster. How any one gets from post-punk to acid house these days is slightly mysterious. But I’m glad he did. You Don’t Know Jack is a great piece of Chicago house, with all the right early 90s vibes. Excellent bit of piano house thrown in.
Blizzardo – You Don’t Know Jack
To prove that isn’t a one-off here’s Tax Day, which has a lighter house feel:
And finally, a free track. Mr Price verges on being a facsimile of early 90s acid house but is done so well and comes across like early 808 State, you just don’t care.
Blurb: Blizzardo is a new project of psychedelic guitarist, architectural designer, and installation artist Pete Feigenbaum. Although primarily a vocalist, guitarist, bandleader, and producer in Brooklyn’s DIY noise/psych underground, his pronounced interest in post-punk, kraut-rock, suddenly gave way to a new fascination with all things Hacienda, Paradise Garage, Acid House + Detroit/Chicago. After furiously producing close to 15 tracks aimed for the club from 2010 to 2012, ‘Mr. Price’ elbowed its way onto the internet via Sup Magazine and UK taste-makers 20Jazzfunkgreats. Dance music is seldom sentimental about its past in the way that rock can be; but Blizzardo attempts to resuscitate long-lost sounds such as the acid 303 sound, 808 handclaps and classic disco bongos, while utilizing the latest in digital effects automation, ambiance, loops and sampling. Blizzardo is equally at home on the racks next to Traxx classics as it is next to contemporary underground house heads like Pink Skull or Ital. Vibes range from the Kevin Saunderson throwback “Mr. Price” to the spacey and Balaeric “Tax Day”, to the poly-rhythmic acid attack of “Rupture.” Nonetheless, Blizzardo tracks are united by an attention to detail and layering that defies all things minimal–and a bombastic streak not seen since the KLF burned one million quid. Blizzardo’s debut EP, Challenger will be out on August 7th, via OurLabel Intl.
