DJs say they want music that they can play months after it’s released. Producers say they make it, but in the business of modern labels, every bit of energy and attention is directed toward the release date and momentum crashes like a six year old eating Pixy Stix after. If this is a problem, it’s one that’s getting worse as the digital age progresses and more and more of culture is sucked into the vacuum of streaming. It seems that when art is no longer limited by scarcity, physical medium or even costs any money at all, it becomes a single bullet in a 30 round magazine, a disposable source of instant dopamine that gets dropped like a shell casing when the quick high is gone.
So one feels a bit ashamed at being even peripherally a part of this monstrous machine when you come across a record that transcends these limitations. Salar Ansari’s EhsaaSaat is what I’m talking about. I believe this is his debut – I’m putting a qualifier there because I’ve seen his name a lot for someone with a single record discography, and because EhsaaSaat is the rare example of an artist emerging fully formed, with room left to grow but no further growth required.
First above all: this is one of the best produced dance music albums I’ve ever heard. Showcasing an array of session musicians, EhsaaSaat doesn’t shine so much as glow – you can feel the warmth that passeth all understanding from the opening notes of “Aura,” with a live bass that lifts your heart and the flash of keys that seem to rise up from the mix into the ceiling above you. We’re in an era when most settle for “good enough” and challenge listeners to point out the difference between music made my humans and that made entirely in the box. Here the difference is obvious. This is a palliative for the ears and one of those touchstone reminders of just how powerful dance music can be when you have a guy or girl or mixed group of both really putting their soul into it.
Salar Ansari: EhsaaSaat EP / Moozikeh Analog Room
A1. Salar Ansari: “Aura”
A2. Salar Ansari: “Aura” (Patrice Scott remix)
B1. Salar Ansari: “Water”
B2. Salar Ansari: “Water” (Lexii Flip)