EP | trippin' the rift

22Jan/122

Poldoore – Waiting For The World EP

Posted by tipkin

I'm really not hard to please at all when it comes to music. Give me something that is well-structured, cleanly put together, has some nice detail and is catchy enough to nod my head to - bam! - I am happy as a clam. Yet this somehow doesn't happen all that often. Many releases I listen to suffer from various degrees of listener-ignoring self-indulgence, cringeworthy amateurish production (I'm a huge fan of DIY independent music, but if you DIY - DIF(ucking)W(ell)) or just simply being a total bore. Poldoore (alias of Belgian musician Thomas Schillebeeckx) in his Waiting For The World EP delivers the goods in a simple, but elegant and attractive package, - it's like a sample-size bar of good chocolate - doesn't fill you up, but is still delicious and satisfying for the moment. It's a very clever EP, fully understanding its purpose - to demonstrate the skill level and range, and make you want more. Each one of four tracks on the EP showcases different sides of Poldoore's talent: setting up the mood in the title track, masterful use of a great instrumental sample (guitar provided by Road Of Silence) on "Moonshyne (Reshyne)", spicing things up with a bit of vocals on "The Northern Compass" and blending all of the above together on "Honey Don't Cry". And all four tracks demonstrate maybe his most important ability - to create a cohesive record, and it's hard to over-appreciate this particular skill. And if you visit this blog regularly you know that I'm a sucker for a good beat and for a subtle detail. There's plenty of both on Waiting For The World. I like how playful and creative Poldoore is with his beat, not letting it simply guide the track, making it the exciting and often prominent part of it. And the detailing is exceptional as well, from the cicadas on the opening track to some kind of shawm slowly emerging in the finale of "Honey Don't Cry". Poldoore's music sits comfortably somewhere in the middle between chillout downtempo and instrumental hip-hop, cleverly staying away from the cheesiness of the former and the self-important monotony of the latter. While not necessarily breaking any new grounds, Poldoore - Waiting For The World EP is a very satisfying little record of an extremely high quality. Poldoore is 'waiting for the world', but there's no reason for the world to wait - the EP is available now on Bandcamp for free.

And here's a funky mixtape by Poldoore for Miles High Sessions:
002 - Have A Nice Trip - Poldoore by MilesHighSessions

P.S. Some small print - I decided to go without R.I.Y.L. section for EP's from now on. I think you can take time to listen to 4-5 tracks without additional guidance))

Tagged as: 2010s, 2012, Belgium, EP, impressions, Poldoore 2 Comments

5Dec/110

Anomie Belle – Machine EP

Posted by tipkin

Well, let's listen to the thing, shall we? Yes, we sure shall. Machine EP is 5 tracks packed with all kinds of electronica goodness. If you haven't heard The Crush, ~~you're a loser~~ you should definitely check out Machine EP, because it based around the title track (featuring Mr.Lif) that perfectly captures the dark, sexy and intense drive of the album, and the remixes are guaranteed to intrigue you enough to make you want to listen to the originals. If you heard The Crush, you should definitely check out Machine EP as well, because it features "Slither" - a brand new and absolutely gorgeous collaboration with Ian Pickering of Sneaker Pimps, and three remixes that make Anomie Belle's genius sparkle in new lights. "Machine" is my favorite track on The Crush, but on the EP it isn't the star of the show. Actually, it's just one of the show's 5 stars. I found myself completely dissolved in "Slither"'s dark atmosphere, hypnotic beat and those unearthly strings (warning! the may tear your soul apart!) and only Anomie Belle's silky vocals guided me through the darkness. It is so damn good that could easily spawn an entire album - and maybe (fingers crossed!) we will see something like that - "Slither" wasn't the only product of the collaboration. "Machine" follows, quickly getting us back to reality (maybe a bit too quickly, but I understand that on a 5-track EP there's not much room for subtleties). And Tapage's glitchy re-working of "Electric Lullaby" brings us right back to the dream world. Listening to Machine EP is sort of like swimming butterfly stroke - one moment you're underwater, you can't breathe, all you can see is bottomless deep darkness. Next moment you're above the surface, you catch the light reflecting in splashing water, you hear all the sounds of the world at once. And then you go back under. "Electric Lullaby" is definitely one of the "underwater" moments - very Radiohead-y, with Anomie Belle's digitized vocals shimmering between glitchy beats. Then you're above again - in the uptempo "Bodies Offering" (Other Lovers Mix) made by Anomie Belle herself, breathing twilight becomes an urban romance - fast, direct but tender and sensual (adding strings was such a nice touch). Big Spider's Back concludes the EP with the dance remix of "Machine". I picked the wrong word to describe it in the Q&A - it isn't bouncy, it's not fist-pumping-jump-around-in-da-club kind of dance remix. It's more like "I close my eyes and give myself to the beat" kind of dance. Definitely an "under" moment, more Moby than Fatboy Slim.

As usual, Anomie Belle provides more than a few great tunes. She (and, here on Machine EP, her talented collaborators) gives us an experience, a chance to... take chances, to open our minds after we opened our ears to her music. Machine EP comes out tomorrow, go to www.anomiebelle.com to get your copy.

R.I.Y.L. Massive Attack - "Paradise Circus", Radiohead - Kid A, swimming butterfly stroke
personal favs: "Slither", "Bodies Offering" (Other Lovers Mix)

Tagged as: 2010s, Anomie Belle, EP, impressions, USA No Comments

19Oct/110

J.Baracuz – A Contemporary Witness EP

Posted by tipkin

I remember the name of J. Baracuz from a while ago when I tried to contacted him for a permission to include tracks from his 2006 debut album Lasergun Romances into my radio station playlist. And I don't do that very often. No siree! If the music is not CC-licensed, fuggedaboutit, next, please! Unless it's something really awesome and I really want it for the radio. Which Lasergun Romances was and which I did. And now here is A Contemporary Witness EP - and what a freaking tease it is, leaving me wanting more and SO MUCH MORE after listening to those four tracks. Gimme! (I could just construct the entire review just out of idioms and exclamation points) Gimme more of that rich sound, of those mountains and waves of sound! Of that "a tour bus of symphony orchestra crashed into a warehouse underground hip-hop party" sound of "The Overture", of turntables galore of "One Way Ticket", of jazziest jazzy jazziness of "Jazzy Conqueror", of diamonds of sweet-sweet vocal bits and pieces of "Everyone's The Same". Seriously though, do yourself a favor and get this one. I don't know, maybe I'm in a very good mood today, or maybe (quite possibly actually) A Contemporary Witness EP is one of the absolute best electronic releases I've heard in a long while. Everything that I like about abstract hip-hop/downtempo electronica - fat beat, crisp production, aggressiveness, clever combination of very different elements, array of samples, experimentation without self-indulgent weirdness, even freaking female vocals! - it's all crunched into those four tracks. And "crunched" is the right word - the tracks aren't even that long! The longest one is just over 6 minutes, and for a track that has "jazzy" in the title it's pretty short. I guess you do need five years to create something so impeccable. I can only hope that I won't have to wait that long for the LP. Sit tight, listen loud. Head nodding not required. But inevitable.

Traditionally, no rating for an EP, but I think you could take a pretty accurate guess:)

R.I.Y.L. DJ Shadow, Blockhead, massive things
personal favs: every single one

J. Baracuz - One Way Ticket by J. Baracuz