Proper oddness this, that happens to bang very hard. Chowing through a pile of faceless techno the other day and it was in fact this leftfield slab of hip-hop that really stuck out from the day’s virtual wanderings of our inbox.
I know we concentrate on physical mostly but here we’ve got a digital only release, the first drop on new label Fear Of Sound, run by DC bass producer Lindsay Lowend aka Antonio Mendez. Mendez appears on the title track alongside the main credited artist, fellow beatsmith Jonah Baseball.
There’s no prior knowledge of these guys that I can throw up past google, but looks like they’re part of an unnamed collective of about four producers in the same parts of town and similar styles of wobbly beats.
All about the opening track ‘Slide In (Yah)’ from Jonah Baseball & Antonio Mendez. Marching drums set a fast-tempo for the start and end of the track, with a footwork styled hook of ‘Slide In, Side Out’ guiding the way. Suddenly it all disappears in to an extended Super Nintendo synth solo, that in turn melts in to keyboard string quartet settings.
By the time it violently reverts back to it’s Soulja Boy swagger, you’re ready for it to go up notch. It’s a schizophrenic combination that somehow works, much like I imagine a celebrity cocktail of stimulants and depressants would. And it’s just as addictive.
Jonah Baseball goes solo on ‘Abandoned Ballparks’, a Bibio-esque slow burner that makes use of a more traditional piano loop and stuttering bells. Not reinventing the wheel but a nice compliment to the opener.
Check out the tracks below, then you can head over to the bandcamp page if you feel like chucking a measley $2 at them: http://fearofsound.bandcamp.com/releases