- DJ Neewt's debut 12-inch, on DJ Slyngshot's YAPPIN, is replete with the sounds of a broad record collection. Biotope Trax's samples and instruments evoke hip-hop, soul and Sub-Saharan funk, but it's basically house furnished with '90s boom-bap drums. Where past YAPPIN tracks, all by DJ Slyngshot, could be anthemic ("A.X.I.S.") or idiosyncratic (the rusted jazz of "Cycles"), these tracks sink deep into stoned grooves, driven downwards by gooey hand drums and grainy layers of melody.
That Biotope Trax sounds so at ease with itself is, on "Syggo" and "Opiate Tea," a strength. "Syggo"'s shakers and hi-hats are crunchy foils for thumb pianos, chimes, Rhodes keys and jumpy synth stabs, which are neatly arranged across punchy drum grids. "Opiate Tea"'s medley of drum sounds, billowing synths and rubbery tones tumble in frictionless rolls of chugging rhythm. However busy the polyrhythms get, the EP's sticky textures induce a tranquilising haze. "Hybrew"'s drums pump rather than dribble, but the sedated mood persists. Over a DJ Premier-style loop of plucked guitar and arcing strings, a wind instrument—or someone blowing through a plastic tube—provides a rough harmony, but not the adrenaline shot the track needs.
TracklistA1 Syggo
A2 Opiate Tea
B1 Hybrew