Cooly G - Playin' Me
Label.........................: Hyperdub
Genre.........................: Electronic
StoreDate.....................: Jul-24-2012
Source........................: CDDA
Grabber.......................: Exact Audio Copy (Secure Mode)
Encoding Scheme...............: Lame 3.98.4 V0 VBR Joint-Stereo
Size..........................: 87.91 MB
Total Playing Time............: 52:01
Release Notes:
Yes, they still make CD's!
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When Cooly G released "Narst" b/w "Love Dub", her first single for
Hyperdub back in 2009, there was an intriguing what-next dichotomy
between the A and B sides. "Narst" was a banger, UK funky's rhythms
strongarmed into grimier territory, where dense kicks steamrolled the
snares and digital strings ratcheted up the pull between tension and
exhilaration. "Love Dub Refix" found a wildly different use for that
bass/percussion interplay: the drums clicked into delicate but elaborate
motion beneath that wall of low-end, and it was topped off with a fluid,
phased Fender Rhodes and Cooly G's own voice intoning declarations of
heart-struck disconnect a'la neo-soul ("must be loveà without you").
Either way, she was headed towards something that would take advantage
of bass music's increasing genre flexibility, and do it in ways that
rewarded close listening and dancefloor physicality at the same time.
Playin' Me is the culmination of a couple of years' work since that '09
single, and what the lead-up singles hinted at-- the '86
Prince-via-Kode9 flourishes of 2010's "Up in My Head"; the slow-boiling
crest of the following year's microhouse-tinged "Landscapes"-- is
elaborated on even further. When she goes back through the lineage of
her sound, from funky to dubstep to garage to drum'n'bass, she digs all
the way back to the groundswell of synthesized, post-disco R&B to give
it a common thread. The first notes on the album belong to the sort of
watery funk guitar lick that could've belonged to the solo on a '77
Brothers Johnson record, isolated as an emphatic refrain that would fit
well on the intro of a '95 Faith Evans single, and then built around for
a dramatic, looming melodic theme that is as good as anything else this
year for idealizing what post-dubstep is capable of in a pop-friendly
sense. "He Said I Said" is the track in question, and it's bristling
with intimacy and anxiety alike-- but it also sets a precedent for how
rhythm is deployed on Playin' Me, vividly developing the tense euphoria
and spacious fluidity of that first single.
The vibe of the album is consistently, deceptively understated,
intricacy taking priority over immediacy. But by the halfway point, the
juxtaposition of complex drum patterns, slow-motion melodies, and
heavily floating basslines makes this album's woozy intensity feel
completely immersive. The way it passes through all sorts of different
stylistic contexts makes it one of those records where its personality's
better defined by its moods than any genre affiliations. "Sunshine"
scans a bit like the more reggae and 2 Tone-indebted elements that made
Skream! one of dubstep's biggest early crossover LPs, and its
lovers-rock swoon fits well. Pushing things closer to a denser rhythmic
focus lets her approach house and funky from multiple angles
simultaneously, to invigorating effect; check the frenetic but
clockwork-smooth collaboration with Baltimore house vet Karizma on "It's
Serious" for proof. And when she lets minor-key menace creep in like it
does on "What Airtime", it's bracing to hear her use those billowy
atmospheric flourishes for something that rides on concentrated unease.
The big trick in a lot of these tracks is this sly dynamic at work with
the way she mixes her songs: if you want to really get a good sense of
how she lets the snares play against each other, you need to push the
volume up into the red. At that point, the bass will flood even more of
your ear-space, while still sounding more warm than abrasive-- it
doesn't rattle subwoofers, it melts them.
Fittingly enough, her vocals match the nuances of her production--
melodic but not really melismatic, evocative without shutting out the
possibility of some elusive subtext. In a few of the songs-- "Trying",
"It's Serious", "Playin' Me"-- her voice is scarce enough to pass for
the skeletal remnants of stripped-away vocals in vintage dub versions,
allusive flashes of context overwhelmed by the sound system. In others,
she's more direct: the deliveries of "anticipation, waitingà
explosiooooon" in "Sunshine" and "you want me, I want yoooooou" in "Come
Into My Room" are unashamedly sensual, but in a way that feels more like
a deep internal monologue than a performance for an audience. She also
somehow pulls off covering Coldplay's 2000 single "Trouble" by siphoning
out all the maudlin Britpop grandeur and replacing it with a vocal that
scans a lot more like genuine regret-- though those glitchy, skittering
drums have nearly as much to do with it. It's the damnedest thing: Cooly
G's music is spare, subtle, often quiet, filled with breathable patches
of between-the-beats negative space, and yet there's so much happening
beneath the surface that it doesn't really scan as sedate. This is music
that knocks you over with a feather. 8/10
--p4k
Tracklisting
01. He Said I Said 3:03
02. What This World Needs Now 3:44
03. Come Into My Room 2:49
04. Landscapes 4:42
05. Good Times 2:48
06. Sunshine 4:49
07. Trying 3:06
08. Playin' Me 4:44
09. Trouble 4:42
10. What Airtime 5:35
11. It's Serious 3:49
12. Is It Gone 4:37
13. Up In My Head 3:33
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