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East Coastin’: In Bad Conditions

June 4, 2012

 

Hey, it’s Evan again, updating you on some of that left field, bass heavy music with an east coast emphasis. Its been a pretty good week as far as music goes, so let’s get to it.

Lets get started with ex-Edmontonian Cadence Weapon, who dropped his third LP this week, Hope In Dirt City. Cadence Weapon has a quite the catalogue, especially for someone whose work is rooted in hip hop. Instead of choosing standard 808 or soul sampled beats (not that he doesn’t), Roland Pemberton prefers to arrange his thoughts over backing tracks with darker synths and sampled breakbeats.

Pemberton’s method of production for Hope in Dirt City is especially unique, because some of the tracks utilize live instrumentalists that mimic sampled material. He used samples to make demos and then hired studio musicians to recreate his bedroom productions.

One of my favourite beats on the album is for Hype Man, its got a bit of a footwork feel, and I really like the beating synth in that is most prevalent in the intro and choruses. The lyrics are also pretty funny; illustrating the semitragic life of a rapper’s hype man.

The album’s single, Conditioning is pretty sweet too. I can’t get the hook out of my head, and the way his vocal tone grows and morphs during 1:30-2:00 is pretty unique for a track, hip hop or electronic.

I’ve been waiting a while for the album’s closing and title track. I saw the opening verse in an interview Pemberton did with the National Post two years ago, and have been waiting for a final product ever since. The album version doesn’t disappoint, with a backbeat rich with slap bass and rich synths. It really has an 80s Miami Vice or Scarface vibe to it.

Halifax producer/graphic designer/musician, James Gaudet AKA Wet Paint has also released a three track EP on local electronic label, Laser Squid Music.

You can grab his Tiny Teeth EP here. It’s lush sound is hard to pinpoint genre wise, but it definitely fits into the category of bass music.

Take the EP’s opener, Don’t Doubt. It has a diverse mix of sounds, both chill and aggressive, bassy and crisp. The spacy guitar samples and arpeggiated bells/synths provide a nice basis for the rest of the song to be built around.

I really enjoy the intermittent bass synth during the intro. By having it pop in and out, the song feels a lot ‘bigger’ as the listener realizes the featured range of frequencies. At about 2:00 the gritty massive sounding synth arrangement shines through, and the multiple synth voices mesh really well together.

All Night Diner’s mix of percussive xylophone-ish sounds, watery bass and airy synth pads, creates a playful, yet mysterious sense of adventure.

Track three, Next Time, is a definite shift from the earlier two. It has a glitchier feel and is definitely more aggressive than the rest of the EP.

Wet Paint has earned a pretty nice buzz for himself, being featured on Earmilk earlier this year and I can’t wait to see what’s in store.

The only issue I have with this release is that it has a pretty short track listing, which makes the Wet Paint sound hard to pinpoint. But, it is only a first release and every track stands out on it’s own. I look forward to hearing more from Wet Paint in the future.

Thats it for this week! Happy June everyone!

@ESMCINTYRE

BAY RADBURY