Bleep

Kenny Larkin is a name synonymous with Detroit techno. Breaking through in the scene’s second wave in the 90s, he would soon become one of its most important producers, whose sonic profile would grace the decks of DJ booths worldwide. Keys, Strings, Tambourines, his fourth and most mature album, is next in line for his discography reissues on his very own Art Of Dance in 2022. The album shows the evolution of an artist who was already making classics since his very first 12” in 1990.

Throughout, Larkin updates the techno framework with jazz and funk influence and off kilter rhythms, veering into the experimental world just far enough to bring back newfound combinations of sounds for the floor. The titular tambourines oscillate from ear to ear on ‘Androgenous’, a larger than life opener that glues stumbling synths together with a four to the floor beat, introducing the album’s interplay between organic and electronic instruments. Dusk shades of purple and blue colour ‘Wake Me’, where what sounds like a mutated saxophone could easily double as an electric guitar riff, but finds its true calling as a sharp synth lead. Perhaps the centrepiece of the album (now reshuffled into an anthemic closer), ‘You Are...Light’ is joined by its shadow twin ‘You Are...Dark’, both preaching their joint evocations of soul rejuvenation with epiphanic delivery.

Another motor city machine-funk milestone from Kenny Larkin, one of the greats of Detroit techno.