Reviewing electronic music can really be fun, especially when the scope for interpretation reaches beyond general platitudes. Sure, broadly speaking, there are exactly two types of DJ album: Those with ambient openers, followed by eight, nine or ten tracks of banging club music, and those on which the stage hog, usually bouncing up and down in the booth, shares their introspective, emphatically artistic side with the audience. Mikkel Rev’s »The Art Of Levitation«, with its predominantly quiet tracks, falls more into the second category, yet does not strike the listener as a copycat of an artistic vision, but actually translates it into reality. Mikkel Haraldstad, the artist’s real name, who is otherwise known from the milieu of the stylish trance label (no contradiction) Ute.Rec from Oslo, treads paths on this album that lead far away from the dancefloor and into the convolutions of his own brain. This is exemplified by the title track, which goes through gradual changes over twelve and a half minutes, but constantly remains one single trip, where clinging to rare kicks is futile. Other numbers like »Deep Sea Aviation« and »Sub Sea (Peace Mix)«, which definitely evokes John Beltran’s masterpiece »Ten Days Of Blue« with its Johnny-head-in-air techno, underpin the claim that Haraldstad formulates both calmly and firmly on this album. The man wants to go travelling together, from the intro to the outro. And during »Nothing So Hidden« you are invited to cry and cuddle.
Various Artists
Kompakt 500
Kompakt