JOAAN - Nocturnality

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  • JOAAN's debut single, "Splendor In The Grass," was uncommonly bewitching, turning dubstep stomp and fuzzy distortion into a blinding paean to the heavens. Fast forward to 2011 and, surprise, JOAAN isn't making dubstep anymore. Clocking in at 126BPM, "Nocturnality" is house with a bit of swing to it. Starting with a heaving synth riff that eventually evaporates, what we're left with is an organ that recontextualizes '90s house into a more dubstep-friendly framework: think Sully's "Phonebox" updated for 2011. It's a devastating drop in pitch black silence, one that elevates the track from proficient to something else entirely much in the same way the near-spiritual breakdown did for "Splendor." The B-side "Out of Slang" brings things back up to near-dubstep speed, and while it lacks the surprise drop of "Nocturnality," its hushed speech samples and pulsing bass riffs are rubbed raw by the frantic synths that recall his more playful work for labels like BNR as Maelstrom. "Out of Slang" builds feverishly instead of properly dropping: every time you think it will, the bassline only climbs higher, dubstep stagger replaced with the never-ending routine of machinery, moving closer and closer to overheating but never combusting.
  • Tracklist
      A Nocturnality B Out Of Slang
RA