Scratching the Surface

Blending music styles is a tricky and often unwelcome feat, because each genre of dance music has its hard-core audience firmly in place. Crossovers seldom happen, and artists who actually make it work are often regarded as a novelty, at best. The Netherlands' Marco V (at the Church this Thursday, November 18) has built his career on bringing seemingly disparate music scenes together with a sound that is recognizably his own. His tech-trance aesthetic is built upon the merging of techno, trance and house minus the political dogma inherent in each scene. Tunes like "Indicator," on Tall Paul's Duty Free label, cemented his reputation in the global dance scene and landed him regular, huge gigs at vaunted U.K. events like Gatecrasher and Godskitchen.