Is there anything wrong with dance-oriented songs/albums? Of course, with any other kind of music, particularly the one that works within specific genre boundaries it all depends on whether it respects certain elements to fit within that genre.
Yet, at the same time, it has to bring in something fresh or cross some boundaries without leaving that genre completely. Essentially, it has to sound good, first and foremost.
Many music fans consider dance-oriented music as some kind of a lower form without truly looking /listening to the fact that making a song or songs danceable is an art in itself. At the same time by having to stick to that criteria your space gets a bit limited to come up with something really good.
That is why it is really hard to come up with something Blondie, Kraftwerk, Air, or more recently LCD Soundsystem did and still make your listeners at least feel the urge to dance, at least in their head.
Portland artist Jason Wann, aka Sines, is trying to go exactly that harder route within dance-oriented music and come up with something that will also be a bit more substantial at the same time. His latest album A Series of Moments goes a long way towards that goal.
“The inspiration for this record came from my experiences dancing in nightclubs in my early youth and the magic I feel when I hear a kick-ass dance record. I wanted to make a record inspired by those sweaty hedonistic nights and something that was classic in a way. I think a lot of dance music is boring and I wanted to write something that was insanely catchy like a pop song but that also came from a culture of dance music and that paid respect to proper dance music going all the way back to disco,” says Wann.
Might sound a bit lofty as far as goals are concerned but Wann certainly does one essential thing with his musical goals: he makes some quite infectious dance music that goes beyond the standard formulas of the day.
