Distal & HxdB - Typewriter Tune

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  • Surefire Sound has long been responsible for nurturing the North American bass music scene as a booking agency, both in terms of homegrown DJs as well as bringing some of the biggest UK and European DJs to the frontier. Their dominance has, perhaps naturally, grown into a record label, the purpose of which seems to be showcasing North American talent. The third release is a collaborative effort from Atlanta's Distal and Mayhem, as well as one of Vancouver's most prolific purveyors of bass music, HxdB. The original "Typewriter Tune" has "big tune" written all over it: a soothing chord progression gives way to sparse, ticking percussion (I assume the title comes from the toothpick drums and other assorted clicks and rattles), underpinned by swooning synth chords a la Bok Bok or Girl Unit. The track's most distinctive moment comes in its breakdown—or rather self-destruction—signaled by a downward-arcing synth that sends it veering off-road, blasting through thickets of bouncy vocal tics. The VIP is more of a fastidious retouch than a complete rehaul, turning those vocal tics into pockmarks on the track's surface, and removing the skewed dynamics of the abrupt breakdown. It turns the weirdness of the original into a smouldering, building dance floor tune, and the microscopic scale of the elements seems to reference minimal techno in a manner similar to Orphan101's recent release on Applepips. On the flip is a less interesting collaboration between Distal and Mayhem: "Frozen Barnacles" emits frigidly pulsating dub techno chords over top a rigid dubstep structure adorned with drawn-out and synthetic reggae horns. It's a fine track, but never quite reaches the lofty territory that "Typewriter Tune VIP" so breezily scales.
  • Tracklist
      A Distal & HxdB - Typewriter Tune VIP B Mayhem & Distal - Frozen Barnacles
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