SALVA / COMPLEX HOUSING / 2011

"The simpler and less frantic things get, the more pedestrian a track can feel-- the glimmering electro-house/UK funky fusion of "Keys Open Doors" and the shamelessly (yet effectively) Joker-aping "Icey" are catchy, but nothing earth-shaking-- yet even those moments still carry the weight of music that sounds like it comes from a place of genuine adventurousness. As much of a polyglot parade of signifiers as it sometimes threatens to become, Complex Housing coheres enough to make the quartet of other producers' remixes tacked on at the end feel like a distracting afterthought (even if they'd be good enough for a high-grade EP on their own). Underneath all the familiar sounds is the imprint of someone who knows how to make the pieces actually fit, and if it's still an issue of working out the difference between distillation and construction, at least this first step of progress has some engaging energy to it. Salva's clearly been listening to all the right records-- and learning all the right lessons." - Nate Patrin, Pitchfork

nuff said