However you feel about Visionquest's output, it'd be hard to claim that the label hasn't had an interesting run so far. In terms of A&R, they've been all over the place in the best way, their roster a mix of new jacks, like Laura Jones and Tale Of Us, and established figures like Dinky and Mirko Loko. And, imbued with a refreshing degree of color and quirk, Visionquest's varied sound generally makes good on an aesthetic that Seth Troxler has described as "underground pop." The label's latest single, a three-track collaboration between Cadenza staple Cesar Merveille and Visionquest co-founder Ryan Crosson, is a triple curveball.
"DRM" is the clubbiest cut here; in the vein of Merveille and Guti's "Mayaancholy," it pairs a crisply elastic groove with a long, meandering vibraphone melody. It's an almost uncannily Villalobos-like groove, with curiously rubberized claps and an ostinato bass thump; excising the 4/4 kick for long stretches, it delights in offbeat accents and elliptical cadences. "Orca," though, is the real highlight. You won't hear another song this full of bells, glockenspiel, chimes and rustling tambourines this side of Four Tet. The main riff sounds like it may have been sampled from Steve Reich's "Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ," but nothing here feels like a static loop, given how many percussive layers and contrapuntal melodies are folded into the mix.
They close out the EP with "The Day You Left," a four-minute miniature that sounds a lot like some of Dinky's recent work. Floating pads, voices and acoustic guitars bleed together like watercolors inside a fuzzy outline sketched by shakers and handclaps. It's a beguiling little tune, and an encapsulation of Visionquest's proposed merger of pop and dance music.
"DRM" is the clubbiest cut here; in the vein of Merveille and Guti's "Mayaancholy," it pairs a crisply elastic groove with a long, meandering vibraphone melody. It's an almost uncannily Villalobos-like groove, with curiously rubberized claps and an ostinato bass thump; excising the 4/4 kick for long stretches, it delights in offbeat accents and elliptical cadences. "Orca," though, is the real highlight. You won't hear another song this full of bells, glockenspiel, chimes and rustling tambourines this side of Four Tet. The main riff sounds like it may have been sampled from Steve Reich's "Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ," but nothing here feels like a static loop, given how many percussive layers and contrapuntal melodies are folded into the mix.
They close out the EP with "The Day You Left," a four-minute miniature that sounds a lot like some of Dinky's recent work. Floating pads, voices and acoustic guitars bleed together like watercolors inside a fuzzy outline sketched by shakers and handclaps. It's a beguiling little tune, and an encapsulation of Visionquest's proposed merger of pop and dance music.
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Published /
Mon / 21 Nov 2011 -
Words /
Philip Sherburne -
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Tracklist /
A DRM
B1 Orca
B2 The Day You Left
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