Maxy Bills – Dust Moats (The Community Records)

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Maxy Bills

2009 saw the release of Maxy Bills’ debut EP Peace For Pieces, mixing trip hop with dub sounds, but it has taken two years to release Dust Moats, which could be considered his debut (mini) LP. For the last two years Maxy Bills has been in the studio, tweaking his sound, its not easy being an originator in music these days, but Maxy Bills wanted this release to stand on its own amongst a glut of copyists and conformists. Dust Moats could be catagorised as wonky, electronic hip-hop or IDM, but Maxy Bills sums up his sound as “future cosmic funky glooping intergalactic resonance”, which is a spot on! There are obviously some major influences here, from the smokey jazz rooms of years past, to post-Dilla beat scapes, with just enough dubbed effects and lo-fi static.

The opener “Dust Moats Dayze” lays down a heavenly string sound reminiscent of Flying Lotus, editing the plucked strings heavily, with electronic detrius and a plodding beat. “Fruit Time” sticks with a similar beat, loping ever forward, almost like a late night stagger, underpinned by crisp electronics and a ghostly voice, which to me sounds like Billie Holiday, I could be wrong‚ “Seeding Suns” injects some thick lashings of synth funk to the mix, keeping the pace subdued for the pretty sounds to shine. “No More Mice” cranks up the darkness a touch, adding a harsher edge to the synth lines, but still coming across all shiny and new. “Shambles” messes heavily with beautiful eastern vocal snatches, bring Maxy Bills playfulness to the fore, while “Telegraph” turns up the oscillator for a more straight up purple wow sound, but not letting the beats wander too far, not getting too wonky for the sake of it. “Tom Sai” takes us out on a high with synths that seem to float. The pace of the album really surprises me, Maxy Bills seems content with the lethargic plod of his beats, which allows him so much space to fill with lush synthesizers and effects.

I really enjoyed this album, or should I say mini album. Its lush electronics and slow burn beats are really infectious, it wont make you want to dance, but it will take you to another universe. Plug into Maxy Bills, The Community Records pushing things forward in Western Australia.

Wayne Stronell

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