ALWAYS EVERYTHING

OM UNIT // LIGHTGRIDS / LAVENDER

All City

Audio/Buy

All City bringing the heat twice over this fortnight! As if LA 1/10 wasn’t enough on its own, here comes the debut 7” from the excellent Om Unit, continuing a steady stream of righteous instrumental hip hop from the Irish label. Under the 2tall alias, he helped contribute to what I’ve begun to hyperbolically herald one-of-the-best-goddamn-mixes-ever-made, an outrageously well crafted excursion through the last decade in wired hip hop beat exploration- DJ Premier right through to Dorian Concept. Shortly after that he dropped a hot white label refix of Joker’s Digidesign that re-attached the kind of low slung swagger the Bristolian’s g-funk synths were torn off of in the first place. The most likely place you’ll be aware of him, though, is from his contribution to the much vaunted Elevator Music compilation Fabric put out towards the end of January: a lovely little slow burner titled Encoded.

Almost anomalously strapped to rigid beats, the 7” plays out not entirely unlike a hip hopified reimagining of Nite Jewel, albeit with the edges smoothed out. Downtempo on a day dreaming retro-futuristic tip, Lavender is kept in continual motion by Blade Runner arpeggiation, bolstered by foam synth shots leaving clouds of space debris. Light Grids is carried by the most pleasing springy bass line this side of the 80s, whilst codeine synth work evoke melancholy half-memories. Nothing revelatory, but extremely pleasant vibes throughout. One thing that particularly stands out, however, is the artwork. The 7” is enclosed in a beautifully designed gatefold sleeve, gorgeously printed and proudly defiant amidst the increasing amounts of production line, boring-ass packaging the majority of my records come in. I fully embrace the superficiality of it: I want the artifact. If you want to salvage the physical format, appeal to weirdo neurotics like me. Give me a reason to pick up a record besides DJing purism and my obsessive compulsive desire to collect!