Mylo

Better embarrassingly late than never, I guess. Originally released back in May of 2004 on his UK-based Breastfed label, Mylo’s Destroy Rock & Roll became the dance record of the year and found the young Scot soon becoming an international superstar. By lifting his ideas from many different sources, Myles MacInnes has developed a sound that is distinctively Mylo. Destroy Rock & Roll is a sweeping, enthusiastic dance experience that hits all of the right moods as it moves along. A few nods are given to Daft Punk in unabashed fashion; the title track lists off significant artists much in the spirit of Homework’s "Teachers,” while club hit "Drop the Pressure” could easily be mistook for the Frenchmen’s penchant for vocoders and robotic house. Meanwhile, "Zenophile” and "Valley of the Dolls” walk a relaxed, airy house path that Röyksopp could have built. The producer also indulges in his pent up ’80s obsession, releasing it through a snipped "Bette Davis Eyes” sample on "In My Arms,” by-the-book synth pop "Guilty of Love,” and a Jan Hammer homage on the aptly-titled bonus track "Soft Rock.” And if you need the Miami Sound Machine mash-up "Doctor Pressure” — essentially his "Drop the Pressure” spliced with their "Dr. Beat” — it’s here for you to absorb in full. Now finally here in Canada, this re-re-released version may flaunt some bonus tracks to make up for its extraordinary delay, but as nice as they are to have they’re hardly necessary. What the 14 tracks of Destroy Rock & Roll offer alone is a necessary resuscitation of life in the big, well-rounded club record. Even after two years it still sounds fresher than what’s coming out tomorrow.