Up+Down

A veteran of the Reinforced camp (as Sonar Circle), Dominic Stanton got bit by the broken beat bug and began producing tracks as Domu in 1999. The 2001 Up and Down full-length for Archive includes some of the tracks he released previously through the label on 12," but it ignores his productions for 2000 Black, Skindeep, Visions Inc., and Neroli. Although there are occasional lapses into insubstantial stretches that are tailor-made for background listening, most of the tracks help make this a strong debut. The sequencing is detrimental, however, and has a negative effect on the impact. The most aggressive and dense moments — from "Cloud City" through "Repercussions," including his signature tune, "Space Monkeyz" — are packed into the middle and run the risk of congealing into one big mass, while the slight diversions — the muscular hip-hop of "Gotta Set It," the lovely R&B of "Last Time," and the Ian O'Brien co-production "Wuntoto" — are found at the beginning and end. Regardless of this miscue, the album ably demonstrates that Stanton is a standout producer in his field who has more than one or two tricks up his sleeve. Just as importantly, those variations he applies every so often hardly come across as measured attempts at eclecticism.