Tigguo Cobauc: November 2009

Lone

Ecstasy & Friends

Released by WERKDISCS

Ever walked along a sandy beach while intoxicated in the middle of the day and you just didn’t care? As long as the sun is shining and you’re feeling good, nothing is going to stop you from doing your wavy thing. Enter the musical landscapes painted by Matt Cutler, also known as UK-dream-hopper Lone. Although Lone’s been making beats for a while, he’s evolved with each release, creating worlds of beats surrounded by beats that have bordered between major/minor notation, hitting notes that our ears can’t always recognize with his shifting and shaking. The beats themselves have gone from straightforward hip-hop to a disjointed marriage of soul, funk and old-school hip-hop sampled drums. With Lone’s newest release (and first album release on the quality WERKDISCS label), he proves that Ecstasy & Friends could just very well be the only title to wholly describe this brilliant collection of tracks.

Beginning with the opening track “To Be With A Person You Really Dig” a sample of a female utters the title of the track and out comes the beats, claps and piano keys. After a repeated phrase we see the Lone process start to shine, as he busts out multiple layers of synth sounds that border between lush and crushed. There’s moments where you’ll hear what your ears can’t describe in terms of tonality as “right” but with the atmosphere created around it, you pay attention to the big picture. With the following tracks, “Sungrazer Cascade” and “Paradise Backyard Jam” have more of a friendly feel in terms of swirling phased synths and beats, as “Sungrazer” is the first track on this album to have the hard and standard classic drums you expect in a hip-hop track. “Paradise” is a track that just builds-up magically on a fade-in that soon leads to funky basslines, a bevy of dreamy synth lines added upon layer by layer and just the overall feeling of being drawn into an experience that’s foreign and friendly at the same time.

The next three tracks play directly off each other, as they all have this feeling of warmth, drawn definitely by affection, as all one should feel during “Arcade” is a warm smile while walking about the day. “Waves Imagination” takes it one step further by adding slightly sultry vocal samples and adding smooth jazz guitar tones to amazing keyboard notation, giving off an atmosphere of grooves and gettin’ somethin’ done (tips for the peeps, put this on during some alone time with that ’special someone’). The following track “Endlessly”, begins with a vocal sample telling us “…never play your cards right!” while chuckling towards the end of the statement. It’s actually vaguely reminiscent of Outkast’s previous works, in terms of tempo and feel with obvious differences in vibe and sound. It’s a track that never let’s the listener’s attention go as it keeps us pacing to the end of the track.

“The Twilight Switch” is a track that is more like an introduction to ambience via Lone as there is no bass, kick or snare. Besides a slight shaker for percussion, there’s only synth tones and utopia sounds from chopped vocals to never-tired keyboard strokes to an atmosphere that just lets you explore the song within itself. The upcoming tracks, “Love Heads” could very well be the highlight of the album, as “Love Heads” sounds like a futuristic upgrade to the boogie-down 80s sounds of Boogie Down and 2-step soul. Bringing back his signature drum sounds, Lone layers with slight bass synthesizer tones and keeping it delightfully disjointed, the track remains abstract and beat-heavy with a sprinkle of fantasy all over it. “Karen Loves Kate’ is a beauty on its own accord, with a sample that automatically puts a smile on your face from the first second, and once the beats hit and the vocal sample of laughing comes in, the song take shape into a beautiful balance of giggling, claps, and quite possibly one of the most memorable synth lines to be heard this year. Even though it’s nearing winter, listening to “Karen Loves Kate” puts a feel of early summer breeze between your headphones.

The final two tracks “Go Greenhills Racer” (which could be a reference to Sonic The Hedgehog?) and “Apple Hi” both have slight nods to producers like Dabrye and the iconic duo Boards of Canada, as “Go Greenhills” really does sound like a missing piece of Sonic music on ’shrooms, as everything is heightened in sight, sound, taste and feel. It’s like watching a scene fluctuate in pace in pretty colors with a huge smile glued on, it’s an experience that leads to trying to find it again and again. “Apple Hi” has the best clapping chops on the album, as it leads to vibrating synths and layers of unlawful tonality accompanied by bass tones that leave us bopping and smiling. As one would expect, Lone leaves us with a fade-out instead of a full-on resolution, which is fine because it only leaves listeners wanting more. While some may not be entirely welcome to the concept of dream-weaved hip-hop beats, Lone takes everything one step further by giving us a prime palette on what dream cloud we want to float on.

BLEEP

big ups