Solvent vs Dethlab

_{Flyer by Michael Doyle}

Next: Sex & Sedition III - DETHLAB vs. SOLVENT February 24th 2006 | OSLO, Detroit | $5

Solvent is a robot music composer, analog synthesizer fetishist, and co-founder of the renowned Suction Records label. Born in Zimbabwe in 1972, Solvent currently resides in a room full of machines in Toronto, Canada.

Solvent has been releasing his unique brand of synthesizer-pop music since 1997, and is best known for his releases on Morr Music (2001's Solvent City) and Ghostly International (2004's Apples & Synthesizers, 2005's Elevators & Oscillators). Solvent has created his own unique version of electro-pop: too elegant and sincere for the electroclash set, too complex and contemporary to sound like it was recorded in 1981, and too seeped in the time-honoured traditions of melody, songwriting and hands-on synthesis to be lost in the overcrowded world of IDM. Along with some notable remixes including Soft Cell, Alter Ego, and Adult., Solvent has also contributed standout tracks to several influential electronica compilations in recent years, including Putting The Morr Back In Morrissey (Morr Music), Disco Nouveau (Ghostly International), and Misery Loves Company (Ersatz Audio). His songs have also been licensed to several high-profiles DJ mix CDs, including Sven Vath's Sound of the 5th Season (Cocoon), Dr. Lektroluv's Lektroluv 5 (541), and Death in Vegas's Fabriclive 23 (Fabric London). Today, Solvent is widely regarded in the underground electronica community as being at the forefront of electro-pop's return to form.

<sub>UK magazine The Wire recently described Solvent as part of a new generation of composers "gleefully blurring the lines" between modern techno and vintage techno-pop. Solvent currently records exclusively for Ghostly International, and has been touring extensively since 2004, having shared the stage with Adult., Legowelt, Bola, Junior Boys, Matthew Dear, Lusine, Lowfish, and others. [ From ghostly.com ]


"Canadian tech-savant Solvent allows the robotic tinkering behind his electro-pop to intuit, flirt, and wink, humanizing his music at a time when too many producers sterilize theirs. [Solvent has] transformed himself into one of the industry's foremost techno-symphonists... After years of shape shifting, Solvent seems to have righted himself on Apples and Synthesizers, which blends classic electro and synthpop with the punchy modernity of fractured, micro-edited beats." 8.0 out of 10. [ Pitchfork Media, USA]


"Dr. Who basslines, hot synth action, computers talking like people (!) -- this one has everything you've come to expect and demand from a high performance melodic electro synth-pop long-player, and it's even from Canada. Is there anything we can't do?" 9.5 out of 10. [ Vice ]</sub>