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Man Music Technology

Stylophonic
1 disc

1. Vinylstyloz
2. Break @ 100 BPM
3. All Nite Long
4. Soulreply
5. Way of Life
6. Stylo "Acid" Phonic
7. Bizzard Mind
8. It's the Old School With the New School
9. Man Music Technology
10. All Nite Long
11. Skitism (Skit)
12. Da Symphony
13. Game Over
14. If Everybody in the World Loved Everybody in the World
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 5820952
Credits

Producer
Engineer
In summer 2003, Stylophonic heated up Europe and the U.K. with a handful of freaky fun singles that burned the pea soup from the sky. Receiving its American due a few months later, it's easy to see why: Man Music Technology worries about the bump and the hook before pledging allegiance to the genre, and that's a platform even the most casual dancefloor observer can endorse. Stylo (aka Italian producer and DJ Stephano Fontano) cribs from every taste-making electronica movement of the past seven or eight years, banking that fashionably referential style will override the filler. It doesn't completely -- the French-tronica bump of "Soulreply" is too repetitious, and "It's the Old School With the New School," too, overstates its point. But how about that "Way of Life"? With its chopped-up bass loop buzzing irresistibly through a muffled filter, it sounds like Hot 103 blaring out a car window in a 1980s New York summer. Resurrecting Shock-G/Humpty Hump to bust lines like "Since you passed me the mike/I'm gonna pee on it" only defines the mental picture. "Break @ 100 BPM" does just that, slinking over a handclappin' synth line right out of "99 Luftbaloons"; "All Nite Long" returns to the Daft Punk hard house muse; and vocalist Lardedarde aims admirably for Kylie Minogue sophistication on "Da Symphony," even if the lighthearted cut can't quite elude the Euro-dance tag. That's not a slight on Stylophonic. It's just that, sometimes, it's hard to tell whether Man Music Technology is aiming for the recombinant hep of a Basement Jaxx or Metro Area, or whether he's happy just blending their grittier elements with the live-for-the-beat party atmosphere of Italy's discos and summer getaways. Whatever the motivation, Technology succeeds because it sticks close to its hooks. Even by-the-numbers house like "Game Over" shows a flair for moving things forward with vintage synths and an understated four-on-the-floor bounce. It's been six minutes already? Yeah, you were too busy dancing your ass off. ~ Johnny Loftus