Lowdoses – La Calavera
Up first tonight, a shadowy bit of contemplative drum n bass from El Paso, TX-based Lowdoses (real name Samuel Molina). Calavera translates to skull, including in reference to the sorts of celebratory skulls decorated for Día de Muertos to honor ancestors. Where those skulls are usually brightly colored and joyous, I’d guess the skull reference here is a more somber one. The whole EP of which this is a part, Smelter Town, is sinister minimalist stuff — meant to reflect life in an industrial border town. An enormous copper and lead plant operated for over 100 years in El Paso, with an residential village for the workers called Smeltertown immediately adjacent, a proximity that led to the poisoning of several generations of Mexican and Mexican-American kids. In many ways, this is mournful music, but at the same time, there’s affection evident here for that setting. That kind of place can steel and strengthen too. Grab Smelter Town on bandcamp or find it for streaming anywhere.
Lowdoses – “La Calavera”
Crimson Child – Untethered
Kinetic leftfield downtempo from Vancouver native Yashar Tafazoli, aka Crimson Child. This is the eponymous single from the Tafazoli’s upcoming EP. As uliginous as the rhythm is on this new single, its bassline would slice through any amount of sludge; it almost sounds more like the propeller on a swamp boat than it does a bassline — and it moves the air enough to leave just enough room for a delicate, tender, little melody. I’m also posting a track from Tafazoli’s Floating, Falling EP, which came out early this year. Where the new one saws through the tree sap, this older one delicately dances atop it on tiptoes. No bandcamp for any of this, unfortunately, but you can find Crimson Child records for streaming all over.
Crimson Child – “Untethered”
Crimson Child – “Hale”
Josspoop – Ordinary Hurdles
Last up, a lovely cut from Austrian producer Josspoop (Leon Kügler). I’ve often remarked that with the right basic combination of elements and a hooky lead, less is almost always the most. Such is the case here — a largely unprocessed 1/8th note wobble bass undergirds a totally gratifying set of melodies, creating a perfectly pleasing earworm. Add to that a nice, shuffling breakbeat and a few well-chosen drum hits, and you’ve got it all in place. Go any further with a track like this, and you risk losing whatever magic glue is holding it all together so nicely; Kügler resists the temptation to overwork this, and has a real winner as a result. This is from Josspoop’s latest album Slow Compile, out now on bandcamp or for streaming–Kügler was also kind enough to let me share the mp3 with you here.
Josspoop – “Ordinary Hurdles”