Don’t be deceived by the financial-district attire of Broker/Dealer’s Ryan Bishop and Ryan Fitzgerald, the impersonal NYSE grid of numbers and letters adorning the cover of their debut album Initial Public Offering, or the album’s title itself. They’re all ruses. These San Francisco producers invest a sensual tactility into every rich grain of sound they create. While Broker/Dealer’s minimal dance music probably won’t make the group wealthy, its lush, gently pumping tech-house glides with a pleasing efficiency that’s earned the group spots on the respected German label Traum, and the revered Küln imprint Kompakt. (You can’t put a price on that type of cred.)
It’s not surprising the Germans are saying jawohl to Broker/Dealer’s mildly euphoric productions: Its beautifully simple melodies and aquatic, dubby atmospheres push pleasant buttons to those who’ve grooved and chilled to the aforementioned Kompakt and the seminal Chain Reaction’s releases. Combining elegantly frothy textures with deep, lubricious bass lines and irrepressible 4/4 tech-house rhythms, Broker/Dealer makes tracks that are as inviting as beanbag chairs, but, paradoxically, inspire dancing, too. In sum, IPO is worth buying into.
