Sydney-based label Beats Home organise small events in conjunction with releases. Their last compilation and debut release Beats Home Volume Zero featured eighteen tracks from mostly Sydney-based producers of braindance and wonky styles of instrumental hip-hop.
Beats Home Australia/Japan Compilation (BH-AJC) is a shared effort between Japanese and Australian workers to bring the best contemporary experimental electronic music styles in collaboration with each other.
BH-AJC starts with Daisuke Tanabe’s rich ‘Paddle’, blooming with warm clicks and resonance, and flowing over a simple organ synth melody that is comfortable and atmospheric. The following tracks by Mike Berkley(curator of Beats Home) and Westernsynthetics – ‘Zephyr’ and ‘The Offensive’ – continue the texture-laden and glitchy complexity of the album to deeper levels. Beats are further broken and reassumbled in these tracks with ‘Zephyr’ carrying a rapidly paced 4-4 whilst ‘The Offensive’ is progressively stop-start in structure.
Anon brings the compilation back to more of a hip-hop vibe with the wonky track ‘Strings Move’, and next track is Monk Fly’s ‘Suffer’s Rave’ carries on the wonky aspect with stop-start hip-hop-style beats over the top of a tearing synth complimented by other synth stabs.
I consider these two tracks a bit weaker and they carry their idea a bit too far without enough variation compared to the other tracks, but they still accomplish the overall pleasant aspect of BH-AJC thus far.
Ichiro’s spacious ‘Soine’ lands back with the original warmth, atmosphere and broken complexity of BH-AJC, as does Ogiyy’s ‘Another World’, although again they are more singular ideas for looping interludes rather than complete compositions. The compilation reverts again to hip-hop jazz finesse with ‘Holiday on Saturn’ by Pigeondust, which I can’t fault as a stand-alone track.
mfp’s ‘Don’t U Cry No More’ is playful and inventive, conveying space with multi-layered, moogy sustaining synths and lyrics over a steady 4-4 pound, interspersed with playful broken keys. Concluding artist Ribongia carries the compilation out with his signature electro-infused and fun sample-stabbing glitch-hop beats with dubstep influence in ‘Play Time’.
Ribongia is one of those artists who adds a unique sound to the whole “glitch-hop” genre. He, along with Mike Berkley and mfp, are artists who have a promising future ahead of them, to join the likes of Daisuke Tanabe and Westernsynthetics in accomplishment as electronic artists.
Overall, BH-AJC shows that Australia and Japan artists have a common direction as where sounds will lead in the future. This is coupled within hip-hop and broken beats, a love for glitchy and textural atmosphere, and a real know-how when it comes to professional production. I’m excited, please continue! A definite win from me.
Tracklist
1. Daisuke Tanabe – Paddle 02:22
2. Mike Berkley – Zephyr 04:32
3. Westernsynthetics – The Offensive 03:23
4. Anon – Strings Move 04:54
5. Monk Fly – Suffer’s Rave 02:12
6. Ichiro_ – Soine 01:50
7. Ogiyy – Another World 02:52
8.Pigeondust – Holiday On Saturn 02:18
9. mfp – Don’t U Cry No More 04:24
10. Ribongia – Play Time 01:46
Link: http://beatshome.bandcamp.com/album/beats-home-japan-australia-compilation
