David Vangel has been producing under the name Vangel for about ten years, and started releasing solo material under his full name in 2005. Breadth Control marks the debut full length for the Toronto-based musician, and finds him managing a wide variety of influences, from hip hop to post-rock to classical to jazz to electronic. It’s not an easy task to combine all of these factors, let alone make them coherent. Vangel not only does this, creating a singular sound along the way, but also arranges everything to make a very engaging listening experience from start to finish.

The most distinctive aspect of this album is the drumming. A combination of live and programmed beats come together to create an energetic whirlwind that manages to perfectly walk the line between frenetic and engaging without being overpowering. The album is mostly instrumental, with the exception of some well place vocal samples. Vangel is especially talented with arrangement, knowing when to create tension and juxtapose styles to create different moods, such as in the song, “Take Me By The Hand.” He builds the song on a simple piano line that’s filled out with strings, bass, and drums in a straight ahead 44 time signature, to break it down with a little samba line and Michael Franks vocal sample. The only real complaint I have about the album is that Vangel felt the need to end the album on a novelty track, with a sample of an exercise recording reminding us to cool down. It just feels tacked on, especially after the grand feeling of closure that comes from “Another Place,” the song that immediately precedes it.

I had no idea what to expect from Vangel’s solo debut, but I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. There’s not a lot of records I can compare it to, as he found a rather unique intersections of genres. I’ll be interested to see where he goes from here.