- Ad Bourke's predilection thus far has been for hip-hop more than house, but on Raw Ivy he shows off considerable chops for the latter genre, infusing it with his usual elements of G-funk and neo-soul. "Anagrama" kicks off the mini-album with a keen sense of the occult before tambourine-laced beats pad out an undulating pattern. Serrated analogue lines glisten like Mark Pritchard in Harmonic 313 mode and at various points the track degrades to nothing before spilling out into a groove once again. "Guava" is soupy—almost every space is filled, overloaded even, with glistening squeaks, half-heard voices and much more besides.
Closing out side one, "Shiner" is pure underwater funk from some mystical oceanic depths, while the flip side starts with even more wiggle in its bass as glassy effects and twanged guitar strings bring a sparking rawness to proceedings. Moodymann vibes prevail on the final two cuts, both of which stream by on waves of grubby acid, free-roaming melodies and hollow steel drums. Dense but dynamic, Raw Ivy is so stuffed with sound your synapses never get a chance to rest. Thanks to being paired with such deep underlying grooves, though, you wouldn't have it any other way.
Tracklist A1 Anagramma
A2 Guava
A3 Shiver
B1 Rio South
B2 Tunnel88
B3 Stormy