One might reflect on the sanity of someone who would leave the warm and sunny climes of Florida in the dead ass of winter to venture northward into the nation’s icebox just to perform a handful of shows. A quick sampling of Mike Diaz’s maximum Chillwave soundscapes under the banner of Million Young will eliminate any questions concerning his mental stability. Million Young’s icy Electronica is best served cold as an almost perfect sonic accompaniment to (and tonic for) winter’s razor chill and dour mood.
Diaz began assembling his rink-smooth riffs as Million Young (almost certainly named after the American Analog Set’s song of the same name, from their excellent Know By Heart disc) back in 2008, and attracted fan attention and critical acclaim almost immediately. Across a couple of well-received EPs — Sunndreamm and Be So True — Diaz/MY concocts deep-freeze, space-age bachelor pad music with a contemporary twist, moving effortlessly from exotic Afrobeat and Tropicalia to Polynesian Pop to dream-laden Techno, ultimately finding his own personal sonic identity in the triangulation of those musical ideas.
Million Young plays MOTR Pub Saturday with Sunglasses and The Great Mundane. Go here for Brian Baker’s full Sound Advice, show details and directions.
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2010.