Crooked House

Richard Barratt — aka Parrot, On Productions, one third or All Seeing I and half of Sweet Exorcist among many other guises — is surely one of the most consistently innovative producers in all of dance music. The lugubrious Yorkshireman was key in creating foundations of distinctly British house and techno in the 80s and early 90s, including making the first album on the legendary WARP Records, but at every turn he’s evaded expectation and created extraordinary grooves. His Crooked Man alias, starting in the early 2010s, is just one of many chapters in his story, but musically is up there with anything else he’s done. The second Crooked Man album for DFA Recordings is a direct continuation of the first — high gloss, psychedelic sounds supporting deep, melancholic early Chicago-style house songs, generally with a trademark 6/8 rhythm — but goes deeper still in every regard, and every song is a standout in its own right.