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SINGULAR TALENT

He's represented by a lone name, but house and techno head Jordan has talent aplenty...

Jordan's recent collaboration with Fred P, on the airy synth and rolling drum work of “There is a Place” (taken from Deep Explorer's recent Far and Beyond compilation), showed the young New York-based DJ and producer's promising talent and rarefied taste.

“I have learnt so much from him,” he tells us when plugged on the Soul People Music boss, who Jordan became friends with while manning the counter of Halcyon, the record shop where he also got his schooling in house and techno, staying after work to perfect his technical skills on the turntables. “What I admire about him the most is how honest he is with his music.”

This honesty, and the shared experience of New York, which Jordan calls “an environment that is so full of contrasts and extremes,” is also evident in his own output, which eschews cheap dancefloor tricks for a similar kind of gradually unfolding (and refolding) emotion.

His forthcoming debut for Finale Sessions, for example, features a hypnotic robotic groove on “Night Mask,” the swirling “Division Point,” which rides on warm bass and crashing wave ambience, and the playfully jacking “Return,” with its wrong-footing interlocutions.  On October 6, another new EP called “Meanwhile in Ridgewood,” which comes out on the UK’s Ornate Music label, follows this.

“I am also working with Tinman under the name The Rolling Ones, more details regarding that project will be coming soon,” Jordan tell us with a discernable hint of excitement.

Despite originally coming from Ohio (“I still have a soft spot for glow sticks, UFO pants, and liquid dancing,” he spills when we ask about his early Midwest rave experiences), Jordan's sound has quickly emerged as another recognized facet of NYC's modern underground – a fact represented by his appearance at the inaugural Sustain-Release festival (see p.91) held between September 11-12, joining the likes of Joey Anderson and Ju-Ed on the line-up.

But what of the solo name? Is he hoping to be the house Madonna?

“I was thinking more along the lines of the new Enya,” he laughs. “All jokes aside, I was giving myself a headache trying to come up with a witty name. I ended up disliking them all after about two days, so I just stuck with something simple and mine.”