For what seems like forever, there’s been that vague notion of “future” promulgated around and applied to modify existing forms like garage and house, or used in tandem with the all-encompassing bass. Instead of denoting characteristics that are cutting-edge, its implication—of vocal sampling conventions or texture parameters—has turned redundant, disparaging for some. Brooklyn producer Seafloor (Mathew Young previously of the Body Language outfit), with his neat and clean sense of production, seems to have had at least one foot planted in this realm unabashedly, releasing on Hyperboloid, Astro Nautico, and Infinite Machine. He’s returned for a third time on the latter as somewhat of a staple, but now under the guise of Rights alongside Braille to inaugurate both this new project and Montreal label Infinite Machine’s new year.
Braille is the alias of Praveen Sharma, also out of New York, and what’s to be said of his early production under that name, as well as his part in Sepalcure alongside Travis Stewart, should sound similar to that of his new cohort’s—his 2011 drops on Rush Hour, Direct Current and Hotflush are slightly rougher around the edges but similarly form around house and garage. It’s Sharma’s current proclivity towards putting a brake on tempo and a taste for R&B-inflecting songwriting—evidenced through a new EP and forthcoming LP on FoF—that seeps through The Meaning at parts. Icy vocal depersonalization is placed atop cracking percussion on opener “Cold In The B”. “Heartbeat” is a glimmer of color and kinetics on an EP (which very loosely fits the criteria playing over 35 minutes) that stays relatively reticent and languid. The effortless joint between “Can’t Forget” and “Understand The Meaning”, two parts to one song, is the most impressive part of The Meaning. When the ethereal synths of the former ooze into the latter and the rhythm shifts to a rocking half-time, it’s as if the drear of project has exhausted itself. To boot is a “Can’t Forget” remix from Photay, who concludes the EP as an all-Brooklyn affair and reminds us of his inventively wacky album.
The Meaning EP is out now via Infinite Machine.
