- There's a casual elegance to Nick Wilson's productions. His drums are baggy, like they're being played live, and his melodies shimmer. This is perhaps the natural product of someone raised on a diet of broken beat, hip-hop and jazz—genres that tend to avoid quantized sounds in favour of something that feels more human than machine. That style helped the London producer break out on 2012's gorgeous Synthetes. Wilson returns to what he does best on his excellent second EP for Tief Music, Dawn Vapours.
"Church Street Blues" channels "Synthetes" without being a copy. It has an uplifting three-note melody that twists subtly throughout the tune, mirrored by different instruments as strings flutter in between. But it's the creative bassline, which breaks and meanders instead of merely repeating, that's most impressive. Sidling up to the new age revival, "Dawn Vapours" features glassy vocal pads and more wandering basslines—it's easy to get swept up in its slow, luxurious waves. Nebraska straightens out "Church Street Blues" with a vintage touch, replacing the rhythm section with old breaks and a simpler bassline. His remix is more functional than the original, but it retains Wilson's easygoing spirit.
TracklistA1 Church Street Blues
A2 Dawn Vapours
B1 Church Street Blues (Nebraska Remix)