Michel Cleis (Switzerland) label: Cadenza
biography
Recently quoted as being "this year's breakthrough producer" by Pete Tong, Michel Cleis' vibrant, joyful, ethno-electronic productions are currently enthralling audiences around the globe. Gilles Peterson is a big fan, future collaborations between the two are not unlikely.
The man behind the groove is a hedonist. He grew up in the Italian part of Switzerland, with soul music and jazz as his main influence, and kept up his eclecticism by opening up to rock and techno - the man also quotes Italian singer-song writer Lucio Battisti as one of his greatest heroes. Varied and electic but always warm and ear-friendly. Michel Cleis also remixed Spencer Parker's track "The Beginning", which came out in June 2009 on Buzzin' Fly Records. Michel grabs the riff, adds some metallic congas, and works it up into a flickering, driving, modern tribal groove that saw rewinds in last Miami. Dropped into Luciano's lap, it then became a centrepiece track on Buzzin' Fly's subsequent US tour, and is currently bringing the house down on Spencer's Australian dates.
Last year's Ibizi stormer, La Mezcla, originally out on Cadenza records, is about to be re-released on Strictly Rhythm on Oct 5th. Also keep your ears open for a remix of his appearing on Skunk Anansie's Best Of, out this November on One Little Indian.
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links
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