There’s not much better than when house music takes on a life of it’s own, and though others are entitled to disagree, Deepblak for me is a house music label, consistently churning out chin-stroke music that can equally move the floor. Along with Mathematics, it’s got to be one of the best curated wax labels around, defining it’s own distinct feeling and sound as it goes along.
It was only about six months back that I first discovered Afrikan Sciences aka Eric Porter Douglass through his 2011 debut LP Means and Ways. A bit surprising we were so late to the party due to the fact that he co-runs the incredible Deepblak label with Aybee, who’s Worlds LP was one of our top records of 2013.
Dropping back in November Theta Wave Brain Sync is the double LP follow-up to Means and Ways, and even more of a mind-blowing epic of next-level house music.
Afrikan Sciences is tapping in to so many different veins across the eleven tracks it’s hard to put the record away, and these stand out even further the more you break them down in to individual beat-driven house joints.
The compositions are crowded and busy without ever uncomfortably clashing, pushing synths and complex layers in to different directions but always tied together with a singular vibe or idea. Channeling some Sun Ra spirituality he seems to be approaching his machine in the form of a bandleader trying to get as many versions of a unified idea and pattern out of them as possible on each cut.
One track might involve emulated video-game synths crunching along in a pattern besides lush Rhodes electric piano loops, while a live tribal drum experience works beautifully beside a fully electronic UK garage kit. The next movement might switch to some John Carpenter scoring over an industrial beat, but always with the same vibe flowing through. There’s even enough nu-jazz and broken beat to draw comparisons to a Dego records as much as Hieroglyphic Being, Mr Raoul K or even Flying Lotus.
Afrikan Sciences comes across as an artist that understands the restraints of genre, and what house music should be, but has transcended it to not give a f**k. This can take decades of releases for most artists, but on his sophomore full-length he’s given us an incredibly deep and complex album that’s pure listening joy. Whatever you’re in to, live or electronic, dark or festival floor, I’d recommend checking this out, as it may just pull you in to a space previously uninhabited.
To get the bad news out of the way, I seem to have gotten a pretty poor pressing of the LP, with a handful of marks and little nicks that affect audio quality with loud ticks and pops. Disappointingly it was shrink-wrapped, I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has had this issue as I’m seriously considering a second purchase to see if it works out better.
Check the press release below, and underneath that a few of the uploaded tracks from the album, going to be rinsing this one for months.
via Deepblak
Deepblak Co-Head & Rhythm Czar Afrikan Sciences (aka Eric Porter) returns with his second Full Length project entitled “Theta Wave Brain Sync”. Following the critical acclaim of his 2011 “Means and Ways” LP the Oakland, CA based producer continues to push further into the realms of the rhythmic netherworlds. Much like the famed Fusion movement of the 70′s, Afsci continues to build on the ethos of free-form exploration of rhythm, dance, and sound. Utilizing an expansive rhythmic dialect “Theta Wave Brain Sync” points us inward to a sonic palette free of grids. That special place where numbers, and counting are rendered meaningless leaving nothing left for the listener, but the groove. Carefully crafted Theta is compiled of 11 songs that of themselves can transport the listener to the uncharted. This album will let you go as deep, and far as you desire. Which has always been a hallmark of Porter’s productions. Never the one for complacency “Theta” is without question Afsci’s most ambitious work to date. An album that we proudly hope stands the test of time, and solidifies Porter’s place as one of the outstanding producers, and storyteller’s of his generation.