note: "Hessle Audio has made its name on its stable of garage / dubstep artists that lean heavily on the former half of that designation, boasting names such as Pangaea, Untold, Ramadanman and TRG, names that I admittedly have had trouble engaging in the past. This week sees Hessle releasing a 12" by mysterious producer Blawan, an anonymous DJ. There seem to be more and more of those these days - Burial attempted to stay anonymous for awhile, Zomby's a prominent producer that's currently behind a mask - and there's something to be said about how it's a reaction to the "celebrification" of dance music and DJ culture that even fans of awful, awful trance music dislike. There's probably a blog post to be written about that. I'm pretty sure there have been several. I think I may have read about it in some prominent net rag, so I'm not going to go into it.
But it serves a practical purpose, this anonymity, does it not? A prominent DJ can release new songs and not have them be tested against his other material. When we get something like Fram / Iddy, we can only really engage the music on its own terms (you might be able to compare it to other Hessle Audio releases, but I'm not prepared to do that).
So yes, this is "post-garage", or "future garage", or whatever you want to call it. "Fram" leads off the single with understated bass (at least, compared to most dubstep these days) and queasy, gloomy techno synths lurching and slithering around its propulsive garage rhythm, a barely audible whisper sample looping throughout. Halfway into the song the synth moves a bit farther to the front of the mix and gets a little more elastic, pulsing and inflating and deflating. It's dark and weird, and you can dance to it. Naturally, I love it.
"Iddy", the b-side, starts off with barebones percussion clicking away while a gloomy organ sound creeps up, but it's a fake-out - the rhythm kicks in, and can I just say how much I love the sound of the kits on this track? It's the best, most dynamic and funky use of minimal drum sounds I've heard in some months, a standard to which so many so-called Garage acts seem to be incapable of meeting. I was sold on the song before Blawan's techno/jungle synths made their appearance, rising and falling like the call of some strange bird and forming a simple chord melody towards the end of the song.
Aren't the greatest entertainments the surprises? Hessle Audio is an imprint I have a lot of respect for even if their releases aren't the ones I immediately gravitate towards when I'm sitting down next to my turntable. A few more releases like this and I might have to rethink the distance to which I hold them. Sublime stuff." - description found on the pop stalinist.
potężna fuzja specyfiki hessle audio i kaskaderskich ewolucji perkusyjnych. [8.0]
note: "Another amazing piece of wax from the Hessle Audio camp, though were you really expecting anything less. Pearson Sound is part label honcho Ramadanman's house infused alter ego.This release sees his style develop that inch further into the almost impossible to determine, and to be honest his ever shifting focus is what makes his music so flippin' good. So this is a real treat." - InvertedAudio.
25 january 2010 lbl: Hessle Audio #: HES010 electronic dubstep, uk garage 320kbps hubscale:chrysoberyl [8.5]
A.
Why
B1.
Sunset Yellow
B2.
5-HTP
C.
Neurons
D1.
Dead Living
D2.
Because Of You
producer - Kevin McAuley
note: " [...] Even though there is dance floor fodder on tracks like "Why," "Sunset Yellow" and "Dead Living," the buzzwords for this EP should be depth and subtlety. Much like the way Pangaea chooses to irk out his music slowly, his productions take that extra bit of time to creep up on you, gradually becoming more and more infectious." - Oli Marlow.
pangaea nie pozostaje obojętny na nowe trendy w dubstepie. pewnie większość z Was słuchając pierwszych dwóch dozna deja vu, przed premierą dość konsekwentnie i intensywnie miksowano jego uk garażówki. pozostałe cztery to nowoczesne, bezkompromisowe wonky ze świetnie oddaną, niepokojącą atmosferą na wskroś oklepanej, chemicznej burzy neuronów. do tej pory najbardziej chemiczny ep roku.
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