Miles Davis, Weather Report, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Charles Mingus, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller,Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, The Blackbyrds, The Manhattan Transfer
First surfacing in 2001 as the first and last release from the BubbleTease label, the enigmatic Syclops began making waves with the track "Fairlight Sunrise" which would appear on compilations over the span of the next four years. A low-slung boogie jam buoyed by a bubbling analog synthbass, its electronic drones and random clavinet runs set it well apart from the emerging disco revivalist pack.
After that initial 12" (called "The Abdoer"), Syclops would disappear until 2005 when TIRK, an extension of the Nuphonic label would release the "Mom, The Video Broke" b/w "The E Ticket" 12". With the arrival of the first TIRK single, it was clear that the Syclops sound had evolved by leaps and bounds from it's more straightforward dancefloor beginnings. A pair of six minute stormers, the "Mom, The Video Broke" 12" embraced everything from the bombastic bounce of Rick Rubin productions and the motorik-riddims of Can to the analog squelch of Adonis and the deep soul of Larry Levan's edits.
By the time TIRK dropped "The Fly" b/w "Nelson's Back" earlier this year, DJs were already championing Syclops on dancefloors across the globe. Pushing both the artful, abstract analog noise and the unstoppable live drum beats even further into the red, "The Fly" and "Nelson's Back" sounded like no other dance tunes of the year and have left a trail of riddled fans salivating in anticipation of the next Syclops salvo, "Where's Jason's K" on DFA
Stephen Christian
