Kenneth Scott
[Auralism Records, Nightlight Music]

Kenneth Scott makes small-scale techno with large sonic concerns. Recording under his Eutactic moniker with Auralism label head Jason Short and under his own name for friend Alland Byallo's Nightlight Music, Scott takes cues from early Warp records, Matthew Dear's acid experimentation as Audion, and minimal-minded composers like Philip Glass and Arvo Part. The results eye the "minimal" label with suspicion, combining techy snares, reptilian synths, and subtle layers of melody into something melodic, funky, and emotional -- uncategorizable and catchy as hell, just how Scott likes it. "I think that trance really ruined melodies and arpeggios for everyone," he says, "and only now are people a bit more open to it."

Scott was raised in a small, rural Iowa town, where he nursed an obsession with dance music while exploring its tiny scene. He learned a bit of every instrument he could get his hands on, while DJing his first house parties with his father's old turntable, a portable CD player, and a Radio Shack mixer. Scott's been honing his craft in the years since, running San Francisco's successful Binary party, DJing with Pan Pot, Lee Curtiss, and Argenis Brito, and creating music alongside collaborators Jason Short, Alland Byallo, and Emilio Orlandi. Now he's ready to open the floodgates. "I want to create dance-floor friendly, funky, jacking, sonically dexterous, soulful music," he says. "I want to make a crowd tear up, as well as pump their fists."

myspace.com/eutactic