The Answer Is In The Beat

D33J: Tide Songs tape (Anticon, 2013)

July 7, 2013 at 10:48 pm | Posted in Reviews | Comments Off on D33J: Tide Songs tape (Anticon, 2013)

I saw this guy open for labelmate Baths, and he definitely stole the show. Really nice grimy hazy lo-fi techno that could fit in with 100% Silk type stuff. I think this tape is actually the official release of a digital EP from a couple years ago, so some of it sounds a little bit different than the type of stuff he played live. Opening track “Park” is like what I heard at the show, calm but gradually evolving house beats and mutating synths. “Young Wavy” is just a short interlude, but it’s closer to what you might expect from Anticon; blunted abstract hip-hop beats. True to the tape’s title, there’s plenty of wave sounds throughout the tape. “Reever’s Edge” has a more uptempo beat, seriously warped synths and a vocal sample of an argument ending with “believe it or not, you’re important to me.” There’s also a bit of a guitar melody and some chopped up vocal samples, including the one from the beginning. On side B, “Drowning Pools” has more guitar melody and glitched up synths along with a nice building beat. “Sleeping Out” ends the tape with another wistful, slightly glitchy hip-hop instrumental. A nice surprise, both the tape and the live set.