Canadian producer
Jacques Greene emerged at the beginning of the 2010s with a series of tracks that combined the galloping tempos of U.K. garage with melancholy snippets from R&B tunes and traces of acid house synths, sculpting the tracks to build up to emotional crests and smoothing it all out with an atmospheric sheen. First known as one of the figures behind Montréal's infamous Turbo Crunk parties,
Greene released his early singles on scene-defining labels like Night Slugs and LuckyMe, quickly earning attention from beyond the underground club scene and leading to remix and production work for
Radiohead,
Katy B,
Tinashe, and many others. Over a decade into his career, after releasing two full-lengths,
Greene took a look back at his early success with
ANTH01, which gathers the best of his output from 2010 to 2013. Right off the bat, the producer maintained a remarkable level of consistency without sounding like he was constantly rewriting the same song, even if much of his material favored the types of peaks and valleys and repetitive vocal hooks that put him in the same league as producers like
Julio Bashmore and
Joy Orbison during that time period. "(Baby I Don't Know) What You Want" dances around the title phrase and short, clipped cries of "so sad, so sad," ebbing and flowing like a natural breathing cycle. "The Look" is one of countless tracks to incorporate chopped-up samples from one of
Brandy's early hits, and remains one of the most memorable. "Arrow," co-produced by
Koreless, stretches out for nine minutes of tense, sparkling beauty. The heavy, knocking beats and shrouded samples of "Ready" push
Greene's sound slightly closer to
Burial's turf, but still remains firmly inside an upscale club rather than out on the rainy streets waiting for the night bus.
Olivier Daysoul's gorgeous, aching vocals on "Faithful" are handled the way
Greene typically treats samples, while
How to Dress Well is allowed more space to actually deliver verses during "On Your Side," one of the most urgent tracks on the release. While most of
ANTH01 is sequenced chronologically,
Greene saves his
Ciara-sampling 2011 breakthrough single "Another Girl" for last, which is wholly appropriate, as it remains one of the most captivating tracks of the post-dubstep era, and it ends the collection on the most ecstatic note possible.
Greene was just warming up during the years covered by this compilation, leaving further standouts like "No Excuse" and "Afterglow" for the next volume. ~ Paul Simpson