- It's tempting to dismiss G3's music as being kind of, well, throwback. The peardrop melodies and dubstep- and funky-derived rhythmic patterns of his debut single, released late last year, could easily have surfaced in 2008, when the likes of Ikonika and Zomby ruled the waves. But dance music culture is not, of course, so linear. This sound has never fully died out, and continues to throw up the odd curveball (see, for example, the sweeter morsels on E.M.M.A.'s Blue Garden). Added to which, G3, a UK producer releasing on his own Little Corner label, goes well beyond imitation. The two tracks on his debut were highly subtle, packed with rhythmic filigree and a sort of candyfloss lightness that was very appealing. Their follow-up continues in a similar vein. Sure, there are plenty of familiar touch points, but you haven't heard them deployed quite like this.
"LUPO"'s pungent pitchbent chords wouldn't sound out of place on an early Night Slugs single, and the video game bleeps and skeletal dubstep beat have plenty of precedent, too. But the way G3 works with his materials is intriguing and often surprising; the ideas are still flowing when we enter the closing minute. "The Flying Carpet" is even better. The purple swagger of its chords would suggest a Joker-style banger; what we get instead is delicate and small-scale, all pitter-patter percussion and skittish sub-bass. Its fragility is a big part of its charm, although you do wonder whether playing it on a loud rig would shake it to pieces.
TracklistA Lupo
B The Flying Carpet