Luke Fair

Similar to the first Bedrock OS — by Fair’s touring and production partner, Desyn Masiello — this is the future by way of nostalgia from the Canadian DJ/producer. And while the retro tech-y/house side of the OS series is a fair stretch from the usual big room Bedrock sound — bear in mind this is John Digweed’s label — it’s not really until the first big breakdowns a third of the way in that it becomes familiar. In a way it’s a shame to not draw a hard and fast line between where Bedrock has been — epic progressive house, albeit tastefully done — and where it wants to go, but that’s not to say the disc is a failure. Times have changed, so anyone looking for the "start ambient/finish epic” formula will be best advised to try elsewhere, even if the breakdowns do go on a bit. Mongoose 1’s "Synth Song” kicks the disc into gear with a repetitive house-y vocal sample and builds a hypnotic building groove. Skylark gives us the piano, strings and acid track "When in Rome” and following this is the similarly string-laden, and similarly good, "La Serenissima.” "Closer Waves” by Lifelike is a classy way to go out, and to these ears, reminiscent of the genius final track on Digweed’s Fabric 20. A solid mix from the cutting edge in 2005.