Following the onslaught of so many excellent mixtapes, here is another. For those that don’ know, the Gaslamp Killer is someone you should be aware of, making waves with his sets in the US, recently in Europe, and is tipped to be hitting our shores in October.
For the uninitiated, he could be lumped in with the deep diggin of folk like Andy Votel, Cherrystones, and David Holmes… His difference is combining these nuggets of old with forgotten beat heavy gems from the last 20 years, new psych influenced material, and even dipping in to bass heavy dubstep tunes. What gets spat out the other end hits hard, big drums, booming bass, eastern influences and tripped out psychedelic moods, all mixed, cutup and segued together flawlessly, using spoken word creatively to set the mood.
Released on the Obey label, originally in a luxurious box accompanied by a split 7†featuring two Gaslamp Killer and Free The Robots tracks apiece, and the rather impressive embossed artwork, but it is available to purchase without the box and inclusions (well, it is the only way to buy it as the limited box has sold out, you may find it on eBay at a ridiculous price!). If you like a drum heavy ride, I can’ recommend this more, and although there is no track listing included, you’ll recognize some tracks in the mix, snippets of some, and others will amaze. After recognizing tracks by Portishead, Earthling, Danny Breaks, MHE/MRR-ADM, Malcom Catto, and Alexanders Dark Band (a lesser known Depth Charge side project) to name just a few, it got me looking back through some older records to rediscover some much underrated material.
The Gaslamp Killer knows how to excite, making all that hear him look back to the past, and simultaneously projecting us to the future. Keep a look out for future collaborations, most recently with vocalist Gonja Sufi, and appearing on the latest Flying Lotus album. Get to hear him any way you can.
Wayne Stronell
