Tresor’s long-standing connection to Detroit continues with Black Majik - the solo EP debut from Ann-Marie Teasley aka The AM, one of the Motor City’s newest techno ambassadors.
Over four tracks the EP takes you on an odyssey of sorts, traversing the big three of Detroit’s electronic music history: Funk, Electro, and Techno
Black Majik, the title track sets us off with a groove bringing to mind a car ride through the city as the sun sets; the looping yet subtly-changing beats reminiscent of road markings and scenery that flit past on our journey, the vocals acting as the road signs that keeps us on our route.
Our next stop is On Joy Road, an Electro-influenced track named after the long, dual-carriageway street that connects the centre of Detroit to Nankin Lake and the enclaves on the city’s west side. Of this personal favourite from the EP The AM says, “Classic electro has never gone out of style in Detroit, and if it's hot outside, or you're at a cookout you're going to hear some form of electro, especially on Joy Road…infamous for its drag races. It can be a beautiful street by day, but it can turn very sinister at night which also influenced the writing of this track.” Third track, Shadow Werk, continues our drive into the night with an all-pistons-firing techno track recalling classic Detroit-Berlin axis tracks like UR’s Punisher or Joey Beltram’s Ten Four.
Our tour comes to an end as we are joined by fellow Detroiter’s Scan7 who turbo-charge Shadow Werk with a remix that adds accelerating trance-induction arpeggios evocative of Techno’s earliest beginnings in Italo Disco and tracks like Number of Names seminal Shari Vari.
As with all releases during Tresor’s 30th anniversary celebrations the artwork is a photograph of significance to the artist; for a release so rooted in its origins, both in terms of genre and theme, it is only fitting that The AM chose an image of Mack & Bellevue, an unassuming brick building disguising a venue that was integral to the city’s underground Techno scene at the turn of the millennium.