Classic late night New York City music! Producers Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani fell in love with the atmospheric side of disco from tuning in to late night radio mix shows (one of the few great things to have survived from the old New York - but disappearing) and sought to pay tribute by conjuring the inimitable vibe of those dubby extended mix b-sides in their own productions. Recorded during a time when producers were actually limited by their gear, when every sound wasn’t a click away, Metro Area repurposed their techno-oriented fleet of synths and drum machines to create their own stripped-down, futuristic take on the sound of S.O.S. Band and D-Train, full of the same sort of strange mistakes and weird echoes that pervaded their favorite boogie dubs while retaining the immaculate neatness of minimal techno. Metro Area has aged incredibly well, probably because it wasn’t executed with a white indie rock sensibility (read: DFA), or a postmodern hipster fetish (Italians Do It Better). Tracks like “Miura” (named #1 track of the decade by Resident Advisor), “Atmosphrique” (the first Metro Area track ever recorded) and “Orange Alert” remain sure shots in any techno, house or disco set to this day. In a time when funk was extremely uncool (peak electroclash) and the house scene was littered with cheesy vocals and post-Daft Punk filter tracks, Geist & Jesrani turned in something that was subtle, slow and restrained, especially in comparison to what would follow in its wake (blog house). This 15th anniversary pressing collects the original UK tracklist and adds four b-sides from the highly collectable Metro Area 12-inch series: “Strut,” “Pina,” “Let’s Get” and “Dance Reaction.” Twelve tracks altogether on six sides of vinyl, remastered from the original source tapes with new artwork and pink inner sleeves; includes code for digital download. Recommended!

• remastered from original source tapes
• triple vinyl pressing
• printed inner sleeves
• digital download included
• music label: Environ 2017

reviewed by hannibal chew 11/2017