The latest recruitment for Voyage Direct, Tom Trago’s Rush Hour subdivision, is Dutch producer Maxi Mill, who has apparently co-produced some of Trago’s tracks in the past. Judging by his debut, To The Next/Sun Rays, the two share a fair bit in common, most prominently a dynamic, cut-and-paste sense of fun.
“To The Next” pairs lively percussion — note the wooden knocks and tweaked, hyperactive toms — with a rumbling fragment of a bass line that sounds for all the world like a snip from Omar-S’ “Psychotic Photosynthesis.” The track is further bolstered by bright, aerodynamic chords that swoop around the rhythm. It energetically bounces in all directions until a final breakdown teases that line out in its entirety (it isn’t “Psychotic Photosynthesis”) and locks into tunnel vision for the remainder. “Sun Rays,” meanwhile, begins with an ’80s funk feel, derived from doubled-up kicks and a glistening synth pattern. Like its counterpart, the track takes several drastic turns before winding up relatively proggy, the pattern sharing space with a fluttering, arpeggiated line and the bass line extended and droning. It’s striking how easily Maxi Mill is able to switch up the pace on these tracks, and both clearly indicate good things to come.
A must-have from the 1st needle drop.