Maas ‎– Latitude

Bright and shiny tech-house, as produced by one of the masters of the genre, Maas (known to his mother as Ewan Pearson). On LATITUDE, his first album, he set the standard for others behind him. “Festina,” for example, combines glimmering chords with a strong kick drum and a steady bass line, showing that beauty can make you move with no problem. But “Upstate” shows that he can handle darkness and aggressiveness readily, too. “Look at Me Now, Falling,” one of the stronger tracks, shifts from downtempo into breaks, but retains its dreamy, atmospheric quality from one rhythm to the next. But even the more straightforward tracks, like “Suture” or the disco-throwback of “Another Saturday Night,” display the same attention to harmonics and rhythm. “Lost Soul” closes the album on an ambient tip, more akin to Pearson’s work as World of Apples. Whatever name he uses, you know it’s solid all the way through.