Chat-room scuttlebutt has swirled around the true identities (and merits) of the Sons Of The Dragon, the artists behind this limited-edition white double-12″ of deep Detroit-flavored techno. Speculation has run the gamut with no definitive word seeming to be out there as to who these mystery men are (or, hey let’s be fair — it could be women!)
Whoever the Sons Of The Dragons are, however, there’s no question they know their way around some classic Detroit sounds and arrangements. The centerpiece here is “Motor City Matrix,” appearing in three mixes (including the brief down-tempo “Space Edit”) over the first record of the set. The original is a super-slick trip into Transmat territory, with percolating synths popping over the beat as the rhythm becomes the melody itself. The more stripped-down SP12 mix injects some more space, echo, and funky junk in the trunk, resulting in some extra cosmic goodness woven with the tough steel frame that all good things from the D are built upon. The second record features two long percussive workouts which serve as mirror images of each other: “The Evolution” and “The Journey” are similarly structured and executed along an ever-twisting spine of perpetually rolling beats and pulsing synths, with the latter introducing some very effective gauzy dub elements to the mix and the former keeping things in a bit crisper focus.
As to who the Sons Of The Dragon really are? Who cares. As long as they keep releasing music this fine, I don’t mind if they never want to show their faces to the world. The names are out there to be speculated over, but what’s really special about this release is the music. All the rest is just gossip.
dear…god…i need this. badly.
kind of has a santiago salazar vibe to it…now i want to know who it is!
I’m not telling.
you tell! you tell!
Nope. Sworn to secrecy. I’ve said too much already.
hate you…
ps. any credits or link on that picture attached to this review? i’m intrigued…
I tried looking into that as I’ve seen a handful of the artist’s stuff, but I came up empty-handed. If I figure it out I’ll definitely update the post.
It’s by Mark Jenkins.
http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/
Thanks; post updated.
Ha! I thought he meant that Mark Jenkins = Sons of the Dragon! I was all like, “Who the hell is Mark Jenkins?!?”
I really rate these tracks and can’t wait to hear them over a decent system. You didn’t even mention the great packaging etc. It’s the kind of thing that makes records worth the extra cash you pay out.
This is what Lee Purkis(Insync) said on Discogs after a very drawn out bitchy thread:
WE CAN ONLY APPOLOGISE AND EXPRESS OUR DEEPEST REGRETS TO ALL THOSE ADVERSLEY EFFECTED BY THE “SON’S OF THE DRAGON” PROJECT. OBVIOUSLY OUR GOAL WAS TO BRING THE GENUINE/OVER HYPED/LOW QUALITY/OVER PRICED RUBBISH THAT SO MANY OF YOU HAVE COME TO EXPECT. WE DO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE NEITHER MET, NOR EXCEEDED THE LOW STANDARDS THAT ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED OF ANY ARTIST WITHIN THIS FIELD. PLEASE BE 100% REST ASSURED IN KNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE DOING ALL WE POSSIBLY CAN TO CORRECT THE MINOR FAULTS DISCOVERED DURING THE 1ST TRANSMISSION. WE TRUST THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO OFFER YOUR FULL SUPPORT.
WITH OUR WARMEST REGARDS,
SON’S OF THE DRAGON.
Ha, that’s awesome. And you are correct, the packaging is really slick and beautiful. Reminds me of the white vinyl version of Model 500’s “Starlight” 12″ from back in the day! Just so elegant and perfectly in-sync with the music on the vinyl… one of my most cherished purchases ever.
Purkis is obviously not Sons of the Dragon — he spelled the name wrong! “Son’s”
Ricky, don’t lose that number.
Ha!
least people forget INYSNC made one of the most astounding techno 12″s of all time in 1992 – – “Storm / Warm” for Irdial discs (recently cited by Luciano as THE most influential label on him) – check this You Tube link for audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7hGkVqD8k
Discogs currently has 7 copies for sale starting at £35 and reaching up to $100 even though the record was reissued in 2006.
‘The Journey’ was one of my top tracks of the year…Just has that overwhelming, massive kick and supernova atmospherics swirling around it. Thought the Motor City matrix tracks were interesting but not fantastic. If this had just been a one-sided 12” with the Journey on it, I’d still be satisfied with the price. Just a monster, monster track.
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