As much as it saddens me that I entered the Electronic Dance Music scene later on in my life, one advantage of being a “late” EDM bloomer is that everything is new to me. From up and coming DJs like Tinlicker to established pros like Armin van Buuren, every track I hear feels like I’m hearing music for the very first time — even when I come across artists who are no longer making new music.
Since my designated musical guide on this crazy journey into the depths of Electronic Dance Music is an old school Anjuna enthusiast, much of the music I’ve gotten into comes from the Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep catalogs. I instantly fell in love with artists like Above & Beyond, Andrew Bayer, and Gabriel & Dresden. But there was one duo in particular who stood out among all the rest: Michael Cassette.
There is a magical phenomenon that occurs the first time you hear a track you know you were destined to fall in love with. Your body tingles, your senses come alive, and all of the sudden, the bass takes over and you find yourself involuntarily swaying as if the music was a siren’s song. This is how I felt the first time I heard “Ghost In The Machine” off of “Temporarity”, the only album ever produced by the Finnish Duo Matti Heininen and Erkka Lempiaine, known more commonly by the name Michael Cassette.
By the time Heininen and Lempiaine came on my radar in 2017, they had already formed two separate groups, Michael Cassette and Komytea, both of which had similar sounds and had broken up almost a decade prior. But that didn’t stop me from becoming obsessed with their retro-sounding brand of 80s Melodic House.
Listening to “Temporarity” — released in 2010 — felt like I was listening to the soundtrack from an epic 1980s cop movie. As it turned out, my comparison wasn’t too far off from Heininenand and Lempiaine’s musical intentions. One of the pair’s tracks from Temporarity is a cover of “Crockett’s Theme” from the popular 80s detective show “Miami Vice”.
The plucky, funky synth bass makes the music ripe for dancing, but there is also an emotional depth to their sound that evokes strong feelings and gives great meaning to the listener. While vocals are absent from the majority of the album, some tracks, like “Through The Windows” have lyrics that demonstrate the seriousness of the artists behind the music: “Nothing that makes me blind still keeps me crying. Don’t know where to put my mind when you’re underlying. Nothing is how it seems and it keeps me dreaming. Through the windows of my dreams, I see you shining.”
In addition to Michael Cassette’s full-length album, which includes 13 songs, the duo also released several singles, including a remix of OceanLab’s “Come Home“. Under their other alias, Komytea, the pair released other singles, all on the Anjunadeep label.
In the years since I first heard Michael Cassette, I have listened to countless hours of House and Deep House. But nothing has ever compared to Heininen and Lempiaine’s unique combination of House and Synth Pop. James Grant, brother to Above & Beyond’s Jono Grant, even credits the duo with the first of the three major ‘seminal’ moments in Anjunadeep history.
“I think ‘Shadow’s Movement’ by Michael Cassette was a key moment, because it was not only an amazing track, but it was musically quite far from what we’d been doing previously. The track, and consequently the label, started getting support from some really influential DJs like James Zabiela and Laurent Garnier which then really broadened our horizons as a label.”
James Grant
Since “Shadow’s Movement” also happens to be my favorite Michael Cassette track, I could not agree more with Grant’s sentiments about the song. Fans got a surprise this summer when Anjunadeep Explorations 10 included MC’s Solar Energy Remake of “Shadow’s Movement“. The track was not only fantastic, but it was also a nod to the pair’s integral contribution to the label.
Producers and DJs come and go, but the mark of a truly great musician is their ability to continue touching listeners long after they have ceased creating new music. While there is certainly no shortage of great artists producing music for Anjunadeep, Michael Cassette’s sound was truly kind.
In honor of Throwback Thursday this week, join me in playing the “Temporarity” album on repeat and raising a glass to Matti Heininen and Erkka Lempiaine, who together formed one of the greatest House duos this scene has ever known.
*Featured Image Via Anjuna Wiki“
