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Various Artists, Gem Drops I-II
Featuring tracks from crew members,
affiliates and like-minded fellow travelers, either of these
interchangeable compilations makes an ideal entry point for wading into
the Dropping Gems static bath. Genre is irrelevant, but the
paletteâwatery atmospherics, cut-up hip-hop beats, deep-sea bleeps ânâ
bloops, synths that glow like extraterrestrial faunaâis universal.
Natasha Kmeto, The Ache
Arriving on a fluttering tornado of
synthesizer notes and crash-landing at the intersection of â90s R&B
and post-millennial electronic pop, the buttery-voiced singer-producer
steps out of the farmhouse like a computer-animated Dorothy,
finger-snapping over hollowed-out beats and otherworldly bass tones and
offering a glance at the future of soul.
Rap Class,
Greatest Hits
Like he stuck a USB cable directly into
his cerebral cortex and uploaded every great break and song fragment
heâs ever heard onto his hard drive at once, John Kammerleâs warmly
nostalgic beat tape sends samples tripping and skipping over each other,
creating a pileup of memories that must be what a hip-hop headâs CT
scan sounds like.
Citymouth,
Holodecker
One of DGâs OGs, Kris Geffen takes the
pulse of the cosmos and proves dearly departed hip-hop progressivist
(and beat-scene guiding light) J Dilla didnât die, he just became one
with the stars.
Ghost Feet,
Wires and Chords
Appropriately for its name, this boy-girl
pairing from Olympia makes shoegaze for people without feet. Programmed
drums snap, crackle and shudder while plaintive guitars sulk in the
shadows of spectral keyboard washes. Itâs mournfully beatific, if thatâs
actually a thing.
HEAR IT: Stream and download these albums at droppinggems.bandcamp.com.
WWeek 2015