Bearweasel might, at first glance, seem a frivolous name for an act, but with a bit of background it makes a good description of the pair's music. It's a combination of their nicknames for each other: Dean Muhsin, the more technically inclined who perhaps has more to do with the (often dubby) synth programming, and Louisa Page, an ex-dancer with a correspondingly well-developed sense of rhythm. The two features are fairly distinct in their music but balance nicely, an perfect example being their Pug Face EP on Steve Lawler's Viva Music from earlier this year. Things continues in this vein, containing three very smooth, liquid slices of dub house that are, in a utilitarian way, varied in their energy levels, and complemented by Brendon Moeller who is sensibly drafted in under his Echologist guise to provide a remix.
All these grown-up sounding adjectives might give the impression that Things is overly mature, but while it's true that it seeks to work well within current envelopes rather than push them, there's enough individuality here to give the tracks flair and panache. "Styly" floats along with a phased pad hovering in the background, little blue vocal snippets and a shaker giving motion (all very alka-seltzer) but the snare, for example, is clattery as if the drummer forgot to take the wooden cover off. Coming down to Earth with a more defined and weighty drum track filled in with an aqueous suspension of chords, "Time to Start Again" changes the rhythm/synth balance, giving more prominence to the former this time. It's a choice which sacrifices subtlety, but in its place is usablility, this cut being the most likely here to suit the energy level of most clubs.
In contrast, "Button Down the Moose" is the most subdued, with a tasty soup of bass and sub bass bubbling beneath an effervescent limbo. Major chords shift into the minor and a tight, groovy rhythm is made by exactingly placed woodblock plinks. Moeller's remix shows his talent for making syncopated funk from folds of dubby textures. A bustling throng of human voices, perhaps recorded at a train station or another transport hub, chatters away underneath as drags, chops and pops permeate and upturn the sediment.
Tracklist: Bearweasel - Things EP
01. Styly
02. Time To Start Again
03. Button Down The Moose
04. Button Down The Moose (Echologist Remix)
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