I'm always happy to give an artist a chance when he's a fellow Wisconsinite. The music scene in Madison is often overlooked for reasons I can't understand. For years, I've heard from a diverse assortment of very talented artists that fail to gain the exposure they deserve. Hopefully, the Bandcamp model is giving artists like Sanxion7 an opportunity they might not otherwise have.
Sanxion7's red01.ruby is a 4-track EP available for whatever price you want to pay. Somewhat less diverse than previous releases, the artist refers to it as "the true entry of Sanxion7 into the Electro genre." I personally think it deserves a bit more credit; while it's less diverse, red01.ruby is still a bit difficult to slap a single genre label on. Also, I've been under the impression that electro generally uses more syncopated rhythms, whereas this record is almost entirely 4-to-the-floor. But then, I mostly gave up on categorizing music (especially electronic) too strictly long ago, so call it what you like. The important thing here is that it's the kind of thing that gets asses moving.
The opening track, "Into the Night," is a great lead-in for the rest of the EP, capturing its essence while maintaining some of the feel of the 2009 release. My favorite on this release is "Lit Nineteen," a solid, trancey kind of track with plenty of synth (at least one of those effects sounds like a Minimoog Voyager; am I right?). All four tracks, though, are well-crafted and do a good job of not sounding redundant.
Although Sanxion7 describes him(her?)self primarily as "Electro," I get very strong impressions of trance/Goa from most of the music (in particular, Juno Reactor keeps coming to mind). In the other releases I've listened to (the appropriately titled 2008 and 2009), though, there are hints of other genres as well. I hear some house, industrial, breakbeat, and even a touch of IDM at times. I would definitely call the last three releases extremely danceable (not that I dance or anything), with enough variation to keep them interesting.
I don't feel much need to differentiate between the two for the purpose of this review; the individual albums appear to be separated simply based on the year in which the tracks were recorded. These two are fairly similar overall, which is to say that they both borrow from several different genres. The most interesting songs are those that seem to incorporate several styles at once, such as the dedication "Thought You'd Like to Move." At various points, both albums utilize vocals, guitar effects, and lots of awesome synth. Personally, I almost find the vocals distracting on these releases. The lyrics are mostly pretty cheesy and simple (but then, electronic music isn't generally known for deep, provocative themes), and the voice (unsure as to whether it belongs to the artist himself) is pretty mediocre, though I'm thankful it isn't outright bad. But if the vocals are really putting you off, you can grab the full-album downloads, which include some instrumental tracks as a fine bonus. These two albums are also available at no minimum cost, but couldn't you be a sport and toss the artist a buck or two?
I don't like to generalize audiences too often, but if you're into trance or house music, you may find this artist worth a listen. All in all, I would call Sanxion7 an outstanding electronic artist. Diversity is key in laying claim to such a title, and if you listen to all three of the albums I've mentioned (I haven't gone much further back, only hearing bits of 2007), I think you'll agree that that's been accomplished quite nicely.
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