ART:CAST #64 by Kris Davis

Portsmouth is best known for its maritime history and sights but less for its influence on the electronic music scene. Sometimes though certain parts of history have to be re-written, newly written or added as a result of further insights. It’s to argue whether the Southern British artist Kris Davis has to be included in the big picture of the aforementioned music scene, what is inevitable though is his unique dealing with harmonies and the way of puzzling tracks together in such a skillful manner that it deserves a place in the books. After Davis had taken a break from the scene for a little less than a whole calendar year, he returned with his track ‘Through The Door‘ on Frankey & Sandrino’s label Sum Over Histories in June. The highly acclaimed track had been a DJs’ favorite for a few months and gained massive support from melodic-oriented artists till it was finally pushed through a crack of the door to see the light of day. Shortly after Davis published the inofficial b-side of ‘Through The Door’, namely ‘Forever Alone‘ on Torture the Artist – a guitar-enriched piece of music that gained the attention of scene’s renowned artists such as Marcus Worgull. The releases are now backed with an outstanding art:cast – a mix melodically and emotionally so strong, musically so diverse and technically so smoothly mixed that one is touched by the effort the artist put into this musical piece with the very first sound. Davis combines own pieces of music with current favorites, unites moods and feelings – both expressed in the musical yet harmonic diversity of the mix – and adds the right amount of edginess to come along with a sound of his own. Maybe Portsmouth has been known for its martime history but for most people it will now be associated with Kris Davis’ musical perception after hearing his art:cast.