EP Review: Wabi-Sabi - Zebidiah

Zebidiah, real name Zeb Wayne, pulls together his love of varied genres into bizarre and kinetic debut release, Wabi-Sabi. Wayne is known to play both jazz and classical piano live yet also loves hip-hop, house and techno, and those varied influences come through on this release.

Having collaborated with Thomas Gandey on releases for Southern Fried and Nervous his work has been praised by Wolf & Lamb and Damian Lazarus, which is surprising once you hear Wayne's deep, soulful and sensual material.

Wabi-Sabi opens with a dubby collage of spoken vocals, chants and hollow bass that creates a heavily atmospheric piece that resembles a techno take on experimental jazz. Freeform components weave a complex structure around third-wall breaking vocals - "Do you want like a structure, or...?" - it is both surreal and captivating.

Second track Tengoku feels more conventional - insofar that it isn't pointing fingers at itself. Similarly warm, deep bass forms the foundation of the track building into a paranoid, post-apocalyptic sensation. The Soloist follows, melding soulful vocals around complex rhythms to create something that hints at a new twist on dubstep - funky yet alien.

Brassica provides a remix of Unpremeditated to round the EP out, and here the chaotic energy of the original feels even more alive. A driving 80s inspired electronic bass line and breakbeat form a punchy piece that loses a little subtlety but gains some legs.

Wabi-Sabi never stops thinking except where that cool Brassica beat comes in and you can imagine Zebidiah sitting right at home on Rebel Futurism or Clown & Sunset but right now Chasing Unicorns are fortunate to have him... Which is my way of saying: look out world.

Wabi-Sabi is out on 9 June through Chasing Unicorns. Preview via Soundcloud below.

Chasing Unicorns creeps ever closer to double figures with another fantastic offering, this time with a debut release from Zeb Wayne aka Zebidiah. Acclaimed talent and Civil Music man Brassica comes good once again on the remix front... Whilst this is actually Zebidiah’s debut solo EP, in the past he has collaborated (on Southern Fried Records and NYC's Nervous Records) with Thomas Gandey aka 'Cagedbaby', for EPs that got plenty of praise from Wolf & Lamb and Damian Lazarus. Support has been coming in droves for his latest release with glowing reviews already from DJ mag UK, NME, the Ransom Note and a full premier of the Brassica remix this bank holiday weekend on BBC Radio 6. Zebidiah / Wabi-Sabi / CU009 / 9th June Zebidiah - Unpremeditated (Original Mix) Zebidiah - Tengoku (Original Mix) Zebidiah - The Soloist (Original mix) Zebidiah - Unpremeditated (Brassica Remix) Available digitally 09/06/2014 Opener ‘Unpremediatated’ is a spacious, lurching muddle of slapping drum hits and firmly rooted bass that’s run through with weirdly treated vocal snippets, found sounds and instrumental daubs. Eventually it coalesces into an upbeat – pop leaning house track but never does it sound anything less than wholly inventive. The Brassica remix is an 80s sounding, serrated and arpeggiated affair with over sized drums, laser like searching synths and corrugated rums that make you want to move. Zebidiah’s next cut ‘Tengoku’ is another beguiling and off kilter arrangement of glitches, snatched drum hits and implicit post-garage rhythms. Never settling in one place it fires your every synapse with its urban sense of neo synthetic soul. Lastly, ‘The Soloist’ pairs skipping, rubbery drum kicks with off time percussion and an airy male vocal and, overall, has a playful sense of rhythm and unpredictable charm. This is a fantastic statement of intent from Zebidiah and announces the arrival of a fantastic new talent on on the label. For more information get in touch at contact@chasingunicorns.co.uk

EP Review: Blithe - Howson's Groove

Blithe is the debut EP from Howson's Groove, due out next week on Chasing Unicorns, and it delivers a somewhat dizzy collection of London electronic sounds.

Opening with the gentle and breezy guitars of the title track there is an instantly infectious, dubby feel to this EP. With cyclical sub-bass and rattling drum loops it comes from the more experimental end of dubstep, the press release rightly calling out Mount Kimbie. The track even has some of the Eastern feel of that duo's work.

"Attempt" carries on down the same path with strings and a similarly Japanese feel to some of the melodies. There's a fuzzy analogue feel to the sound, with plenty of the crackle and pop layered on to give a suitable tactile feel. "I Wonder" is more robust, with square wave synths plastered across it's rumbling rhythms to create a lush feeling groove. The final original track, "Give Me", features some more electronic moments and a gently swaying, almost garage-like feel.

Two remixes round out the packages with London's Baunz giving "I Wonder" a warm US Garage style mix. Finally Admin's mix of "Give Me" is smothered with deep rumbling bassline whilst electronic patterns gently tweak above in the mid-range. It's a somewhat formidable conclusion to an exciting release from a promising young label.

 Blithe is out on Monday through Chasing Unicorns, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link]. Preview via Soundcloud below:

The Debut EP from the up and coming London based producers. Forthcoming 21/10/2013 on @chasing-unicorns 1. Blithe 2. Attempt 3. I Wonder... 4. Give Me 5. I Wonder... (Baunz Remix) 6. Give Me (∆dmin Remix)