Right
from the very beginning,
Kasra's Critical Recordings imprint have set
themselves apart with a repertoire of impeccable and virtually infallible taste. Since the
first releases back in 2002 they've seen the likes of Rockwell, Icicle, Calibre
and Enei turn the label’s discography into something of a hall of fame,
particularly amongst the technical drum and bass niche, one that is by and
large yet to be rivalled.
Variety
is one of the crucial elements that keeps the catalogue so constantly
interesting, looking back at the last few releases testifies to this; CRIT58
was
Foreign Concept and
Kasra's Mob Justice backed with
Show You, two
testosterone fuelled, muscle tracks, juxtaposed by Calibre's follow-up, the intricately
cheeky Smooth Baby with the soft, soulful and deeply introspective Piano
Business on the flip. Critical 60 was the Sequence One EP; four tracks of high
octane, darkly overdriven technical productions that notably included Enei’s
agro-MC led
Obsession amongst its tracklisting. For the first release of the
new year Oblique, the A side of Critical 61, a production power-troupe of
Sabre, Stray and Halogenix take us back the other way again with something
downbeat, contemplative and very special.
A robust
backbeat-centric drum groove rolls out the carpet, energetically pushing forth
between the lead-weight of its kick and the air-tight snap of the snare.
Supple, understated keys are delicately introduced setting a melancholic
temperament and picking out a sparse melody amidst the foggy warmth of a
sub-frequent bassline. A full two minutes have elapsed before any vocals are
even hinted at, allowing the listener to appreciate and absorb the track’s
fundamental atmosphere before introducing Frank Carter III’s show-stopping
timbre. When at last he hollers in, Carter’s performance brings genuine and
emphatic soul, transforming the track from ‘tune’ to legitimate ‘song’ a rarity
in the genre.
On
the flip Sabre, Stray and Halogenix present St. Clair, pursuing a quite
different tonality, though the results are no less accomplished. A heavier,
more upbeat production than its counterpart, while the tune is roller at heart,
it is far from forgettable. Reverberant vocal fragments dictate something
unintelligible across a sprinting feel, root note oscillations jam out a
frenetic warbling bassline, while percussive blips and tones duck and weave in
between the split-second gaps of the drum pattern. At the breakdown the bass
and vocals briefly retreat allowing hissing pads to cultivate an accumulative
eerie tension that is rapidly shattered when the drums crash back in.
A
quick glance at the tracklist of Kasra’s highly anticipated Fabriclive 62
compilation (due out in March) suggests that a multitude of exciting releases
loom on the horizon, including a VIP of Oblique. For the time being however,
Critical Recordings have made their 2012 debut with typically impressive form
and finesse.