Way Back Here - 4/4 Culture

Fancy Mike - Madison Square Gardner - Track Download

3rd January 2011

Fancy Mike hails from Minnesota in the mid-west and this debut album is in fact the first opportunity we've had to get to know his work in detail. Getting a release via new label King Deluxe, 'Madison Square Gardner' takes us on a journey through sub-heavy glitch hip hop and synth lead dubstep - Mike's work appears to be laden with interesting samples and sound design which goes some way beyond the usual.

The opener 'Ramachandran' is a space age melodic hip hop instrumental with wonky synth lines and carefully crafted sampling which echoes the sounds of electronica from the likes of Boards of Canada. 'Ivy League Smack' exhibits a love for sub-bass and again shows off Mike's excellent synth skills as rolling hip hop beats are backed up by the industrial chimes and rippling hats. A real highlight of the album, 'Lazer Opera' kicks off with an echoing choir and a subtle plucking synth before the bass begins to rumble and then... it drops, and computer game synths and deep bass leads the way through this futuristic neck-snapping joint. Big thanks to Kind Deluxe for giving us an 320bps download of this steller track!

Fancy Mike - Lazer Opera by Woii

Madison Square Gardner is an album which clearly displays an artist with excellent production skills and as having a very bright bright future ahead. The album showcases Fancy Mike's penchant for synth work, beautiful atmospherics and his ability to skilfully craft tracks with a retro-futuristic style, he's a very talented producer and most definitely a man to keep your eyes on. 

The rest of Madison Square Gardner can be found on King Deluxe.