Max Bell went to high school in the valley. He never forgets.
For those of you who hated the Daft Punk album, or just felt okay about it, there is Classixx—the Oak Park duo of Michael David and Tyler Blake who’ve moved from more than solid DJs/remixers to truly solid artists in their own right (see also: here).Under the Classixx moniker, the pair produced a stellar batch of house/disco/funk called Hanging Gardens, which saw release last week (May 14th) on LA’s Innovative Leisure. Because I really enjoy music and hyperbole, I’ll say that you absolutely need this album for all summer gatherings, moon rocks included or not. It will work wonders at your backyard barbecue or your bonfire down at Dockweiler, and it should already be in heavy rotation by the roller disco people down on Venice Beach.
The one-time Valley residents have let loose a track by the name of “Valley Vacation” that either didn’t make the cut for the album or was recorded a very short while after. It’s four and a half minutes of building boogie, sultry space-age love and lust that culminates in a sax solo Sexy Sax Man himself would be proud to play. And, just as is the case with “Holding On,” Classixx are able to manipulate the subtle emotiveness of another one of their tracks in order to make phrases like, “When tears are in her eyes, that’s love,” somehow feel less overly-sentimental and ironic and more cathartic, more real.
I don’t recommend vacationing in the valley (the heat, the inexplicable traffic, it goes on.) But for two guys raised there, this song, and its title, could be seen as a way of celebrating their success. Consider their music the soundtrack that they always wanted to bump while their peers were listening to Incubus.
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