Rhythm Exposed

Alton Miller’s Detroit house credentials are impeccable: a DJ in the city back in the 80s, co-founder of short-lived but seminal Music Institute club in ‘88, and a well-respected musician and producer. His Rhythm Exposed album is a polished and accomplished collection of mostly house music with a handful of broken beat/soul-jazz tracks. Miller’s particular approach to the house template is bright, inviting and highly melodic, with little sign of that classic Detroit post-industrial-dystopian-malaise. Instead, the tracks, which sound mostly either programmed or played rather than sampled, are based around intricately arranged drum tracks enlivened with Miller’s custom conga rhythms, accompanied by gentle synth washes, jazzy keys, neat and tidy bass lines and clean and tight production. An accomplished example of the smoother, slicker end of Detroit house that is very much in touch with the city’s soul music tradition.