You know that breaks revival I’ve been talking about lately? Well, I wasn’t tripping (dance culture drug pun only partially intended).
Of the local artists who’ve recently dabbled in the distinctly Floridian brand of breakbeat, there’s been the usually techno-centric Astro Pup and the famously synthwave-minded Moondragon. Now you can add Orlando dance-music producer and label owner Kyle Lyon to that list.
Under the moniker Blair Sound Design, his cerebrally minimal dance sound typically rides a deeper house frequency. But BSD’s new release — the double single of “Orlando” b/w “Give It 2 U” — doesn’t just jump on the breaks train, it makes the most direct reference yet to our city’s specific heritage in the dance subgenre.
Despite the meta title, “Orlando” is actually more of a hybrid jam that’s a housed-up take on the breaks, giving it both BSD’s signature and a sleek lounge vibe. “Give It 2 U,” on the other hand, is a straight mainline of the hard, hype breakbeats that reigned supreme here in the deep hours of the 1990s. It’s as prime a specimen as there’s been in ages of that classic Orlando sound.
Since vintage rave sounds are getting the revivalist treatment these days, it’s good to see the breaks — a style that probably no other city in the world has exported to greater influence than Orlando — get its own propers. But do we really need the JNCO jeans to come back, too?
Released on Lyon’s own French Press Lounge label, “Orlando”/”Give It 2 U” is available now on Bandcamp and Soundcloud.
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This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 1, 2022.
