"IF YOU WANT A VISION OF THE FUTURE, IMAGINE CRAP 808 SAMPLES STAMPING ON A HUMAN FACE- FOREVER"
All City
If it wasn’t already clear that the LA 10” series was a buy on sight proposition, All City’s second installment should be all that’s necessary to convince on-the-fence beat junkies to make the leap. After bringing Dibiase and P.U.D.G.E to the wider world’s attention via 1/10, this time around sees the more established Take (albeit under an alias) paired up with relative newcomer Matthewdavid.
To anybody on the cusp of this particular strain of mutant beat work, Take should need no introduction. A long standing luminary of the LA hip hop scene, more dubstep inclined heads might recall his inclusion on Mary Anne Hobbs wonked out Wild Angels compilation last year. Donning his Sweatson Klank for the first time since his utterly audacious and beyond brilliant Dublab mix Sweatson’s Trajectory, Take lays out some outrageously good slinky synth magic adrift a backdrop of cityscape musique concrete on I Miss My Brains, the buzz of traffic and muffled street conversation anchoring galaxy minded beat science back to Earth for at least a brief respite. Where he isn’t employing samples for scene setting texture, Warm Ruin’s ghostly, nostalgic vocal mirrors Flying Lotus employment of guest spots, a comparison all the more apt with the inclusion of jazzy piano tinkling just barely peeking out through the boom bap.
On the flip, Matthewdavid’s offers a far more experimental prospect. Anyone who finds the loose lollop of ultra-unquantise distasteful will probably be even more aghast at the level of unbridled deconstruction and abstraction on display. Perhaps presented in the wrong context amongst All City’s roster, Matthewdavid shares more in common with the likes of Lucky Dragons and Black To Comm, eschewing structure and metre for pure sonic experimentation and texture. Whilst it might not find as much favour with conservative beat enthusiasts, the wealth of unusual textures and sound collages hit all the right pleasure spots for me. The usual hip hop tropes are disassembled and stretched out of recognition, familiar elements barely surfacing amongst disintegrating Leyland Kirby ambience and clipped basslines transformed into gnarled controlled noise. Running far from barely-rideable-beats, Matthewdavid takes the idea to its absolute extreme. Too far perhaps? Maybe for some, but great stuff for anyone with a Boomkat-esque inclination towards noise. Bring on 3/10!
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