matthew dear
tuesday, july 27th, 2004 • chop suey, seattle wa


review: Yes, he was back in town this week. The one, the only, the positively adorable and talented Matthew Dear. He and a roster of Ghostly artists were at Chop Suey for a benefit show for the upcoming Decibel Festival.

What a performance! Great to see a mixed crowd of laptop fans and house heads all dancing to Matthew's latest release Backstroke and some tracks from Leave Luck to Heaven, his breakout disc. He started the night by stating he would be playing some songs that had words to them. He proceeded to do all vocal tracks! Funky, dirty, techy, sexy...all fitting the mood of the crowd. Here is a guy who wears cowboy boots, 70's blazers and a white tie grabbing each and every person in the crowd and not letting go until he's done. Every boy and girl in the house wanted a piece of him! He is the "it" boy right now.

He did a fabulously gritty version of "Dog Days" and absolutely slayed me with "If It's Over Now". If this is the future of music, sign me up! Anyone who can music that funky is worth following! His vocals were just dark enough to make things interesting. Ghostly is putting out some of the finest electronic music out there. Great to see such a prolific label based here in the States! Thank you folks at Ghostly. Looking forward to hearing more... (karen.07.04)