Ghost Kwini - Dark Address EP

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  • As genres enjoy peaks in popularity, it's not unusual for artists to cite their contemporaries as influences. Such is the case with Dutch producer Ghost Kwini, who is vocal about the influence of grime shared on the internet on his own work: "The internet these days seems like it's almost organic; like it moves and grows so freely that it almost seems autonomous. I wanted the music to be imagining certain parts of that monster." It's an interesting concept that fits neatly with both recent grime mutations and explorations of the interplay between virtual and real worlds. But drawing motifs from across a broad spectrum and shaping them into something coherent is tricky. When Ghost Kwini succeeds, as he does on "Netscape Navigator," the effect is terrifically disorienting, as if memories immortalised online are being fragmented and smeared before you in real-time. A chorus of miscellaneous voices and strings contribute to the pervasive air of paranoia. Other tracks are less effective. When the pitched-up vocal snippets, 8-bit stabs and fluttering bleeps coalesced on "Gothic Sheikh," I had to check that there weren't two tracks playing at once. "Black Google" is more focused, with sub-bass offset by flickering stabs and stinging claps, though it could do with losing the pitched-up vocals. Dark Address is pretty light on drums and low-end, which may explain why it occasionally feels baggy despite its four-track length. Ghost Kwini is hardly lacking in ideas, but they could do with more finessing.
  • Tracklist
      01. Black Google 02. Netscape Navigator 03. Gothic Sheikh 04. Uncanny Valley
RA