BGDN – do what the fk you like
All dark 2-step for you tonight. First up, from BGDN (Bogdan Bobrov), a producer from Los Angeles. True to its title, this track has a rakish, devil-may-care quality that’s immediately disarming. It’s hard to say whether the track’s impeccable balance is a happy accident achieved in flow state or the result of meticulous care, but whatever bred this, I can’t get enough of that big perc hit that comes somewhere just off the 2 in each bar. It sounds sort of like dropping a box full of rusty metal baking sheets. That sound in particular, but really the whole energy of the track, makes me think about cheekily peering over the edge of a great height, stumbling, and then catching oneself right before slipping over the edge; like cocky foolishness followed by dumb luck. No bandcamp for this one, but Bobrov generously let me share the mp3 for this (and another new one) here, and you can always find these on streaming too.
BGDN – “do what the fk you like”
BGDN – “srry”
LOWT – Rattle The Saxo
Next up, a neatly packaged inky little club tool from Scottish producer LOWT (Louis W T Buick). While disappointingly brief at just over two-and-a-half minutes, this nonetheless manages to be a journey. I would have liked another minute or two, but the track does really say all it needs to — succinct and direct, this is a trip in a matte black, tuned-up Elantra, reverberating through tunnels and under bridges, ending with cyclones outside the warehouse, trunk rattling enough to compete with the rave’s sound system. Sharp as a tack, this. You can grab this on bandcamp or find it for streaming, but Buick kindly let me post the mp3 for you here too.
LOWT – “Rattle The Saxo”
Roscoe Strill – Knocked Out
Finally tonight, Drill meets mutant-UKG on this bizarre one by Roscoe Strill, the alter ego of professional bassist Will Strickler. The track started as a joke among friends, using a voice memo of bird calls as its basis, set to the sounds Strickler has been exposed to since moving to the UK from Ohio. That humor lingers in the finished track, but it hits hard nonetheless, and those bird calls end up functioning as pleasantly unnerving ear candy to balance it all out. And really, so much good music starts as inside jokes and friends just fucking around, so it’s no surprise this joke led to something substantive. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Strickler has a mysterious dog named Subwoofy who is a talented sound designer, but all his work is in the 30khz – 47khz, so humans can’t hear it. But you can bet your dog would tilt his head waaay to the side if he heard Subwoofy’s work. No bandcamp here, but Strickler was a gent and let me post the mp3 for you below; you can also find it for streaming, of course.
Roscoe Strill – “Knocked Out”