Scratching the Surface

Jason Amm, better known to the experimental dance music contingent as Solvent, creates some of the most melodic and beautiful techno-pop music since the heyday of Kraftwerk and New Order. His attention to melody and sweeping synth lines is what distinguishes him from just about every other producer on the planet. It's a sound considered too genuine and sincere for the electroclash elitists, but one that is at the forefront of a movement to bring back pure synth-pop to the world's dance floors. After a series of releases on his own label, Suction Records, in 2004, Solvent issued the critically acclaimed single "Radio Ga Ga" -- which sounded as though it could have been recorded in Depeche Mode's studio in 1981 -- as well as his second full-length, Apples and Synthesizers, on Ghostly International. Solvent makes his debut Colorado appearance at Boulder's Trilogy wine bar on Saturday, July 23.