Beaner - Mixed Doubles

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  • One senses that Pablo Roman-Alcalá, a former resident at the late Bar25 known to most as Beaner (and occasionally Skirtchaser), would like his music to speak for itself. As his RA profile explains, "Writing bios about musicians is like doing mime performances about abstract expressionist sculpture." Luckily, the Berliner's music—late-night rollers popping up on such late-night mainstays as District Of Corruption and his old club's imprint—contains just enough weirdness to suggest something of the living, breathing man at the controls. Beaner's first proper 12-inch for Brooklyn's Thema label (a 7-track digital EP surfaced in 2010) isn't short on slightly warped uptempo moments bent on keeping the party going long past what most would consider a respectable bedtime. But structurally, Mixed Doubles strives to be something more than mere DJ fodder: each straight-up dance cut, as the EP's title implies, is paired with something less straightforwardly club-ready. "Niko & Bart," a subtly dissonant roller that wouldn't sound out of place on Smallpeople or White, rubs up against the digi-Balearic (and too brief) "Mers & Vanus." On the flip, "Michelle & Fuckhead" and "You & I" both suggest a rainy day, albeit in quite different contexts: the former melancholically gallops forward, while the latter pushes quiet piano chords through Madteo-style haze. (The digital-only "Brenda's Nut Farm (Skirtchaser Dub Tool)" combines both impulses into one dark, stony creation.) While less ambitious than the format suggests, Mixed Doubles showcases Beaner's sensitivity, both to the needs of the floor and to a wider-ranging musical sensibility.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Niko & Bart A2 Mers & Vanus B1 Michelle & Fuckhead B2 You & I
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