NEWS
EVENTS
astro:dynamics : Jabu
RnB/Hip Hop | Thursday 22nd November 2012 | barnabas
Accepting demos is a brave thing in the hugely niche'd home-production climate of underground music... and figuring out an alternative release system in the face of world-wide (illegally free) downloads is keeping labels everywhere awake at night... and not just becase they're at the party...
Astro:dynamics have been steadily emitting limited edition otherwordly genre combinations on cassette (and vinyl, and download) since 2010 after their first release - a compliation including Slugabed, Subeena, Clause Four - brought together heavy brostep, rare groove and synth-scape electronic hiphop.
Largely based in Bristol, despite living in London (!?), I predict great things as they expand into our down-tempo consiousness with an inventive ear for new sounds, and a knack for spotting a trend before it gets too slick...
So far we've seen some fully skankin' glitch-deviant dubstep from critically acclaimed Tapes; indie-drone inspired guitar-wash deep house from BNJMN project Singing Statues; analogue warped ambient soundscapes from swedish dysyopian 1991; and now, a nice little package of minimal experimental r+b from Jabu, consisting of Amos Childs and vocalist Alex Rendall from the Young Echo collective (Vessel, Kahn, El kid...).
A pretty short release to be fair, the slick autumnal no-beat grooves, unconsous but controlled, are like sleepwalking on your way to work after an early start: pulling the headphone off your ears to get order a coffee is like sticking your head out from under a duvet.
Sensitive stuff, it's nice to hear a non-aggressive accent in a modern rap tune - but is there such a thing as too sincere? The fluid beatless loops seem maybe too simple at the first listen, but after a few, they've grown on you, and become rich and responsive. The record spins out from these hypnotic minatures into digital drone expeimentalism, and there IS a ghost of a beat in there somewhere...
With generally tasty artwork and a forward-thinking mentalism, keep an eye on astro:dynamics.
...and get a tape player.
