Identifying the differences between subgenres of electronic music may be difficult, but Gregor Tresher’s A Thousand Nights truly can embody various types, as some claim it does. It has the attention-grabbing hooks of electro or tech-house, the sparse subtle instrumentation make it minimal, the compositional intricacies and driving beats of techno. Tresher, the latest of many faceless producers to emerge from Germany’s fertile music scene, hits all the key fads of contemporary dance music.

A Thousand Nights feels completely contemporary and current; it couldn’t have come at any time other than mid-2000s. Tresher is obviously a student of dance music. Each track is powered along by a booming, overpowered kick drum, and most feature ear-pleasing hooks. A Thousand Nights lacks distinct personality and a sense of spontaneity, but its best moments elicit the same excitement as my favorite dance records of the last few years do.

In music, I savor the moments when the sound actually prevents me from having coherent thoughts. But with A Thousand Nights, the songs evolved the way I thought they should. The melodies were pleasant enough, but there was no awe. Ultimately, this is just a solid batch of tracks that represent the fashion of contemporary techno in the last half of this decade.

Artist: http://www.gregor-tresher.de
Label: http://www.greatstuff.eu.com
Audio: http://www.myspace.com/gregortresher