Brand New Heavyness! ------------- I preordered this new release from Hyperdub after hearing the opening track ‘It’s House Hybrid’ in a someone’s mix on Mixcloud a couple of months ago (can’t remember who so no credit I’m afraid!).
DJ Tre has squeezed in some serious energy and forward motion in every single track on this 4 track EP. The opening track ‘It’s House Hybrid’ is a good descriptor to open with for me as I struggle to know what to call this style of writing!
I know nothing of Chicago’s Footwork or Juke scene but the small bits of those styles of music do seem to share a lot in common with what I hear here. The tempos are fucking rapid, the production is not violent in the same way that Drum&Bass, IDM or Jungle are despite them sharing a similar tempo and to me the closing track (my favourite pick) ‘Tha Rhodez Jam!’ is actually pretty damn soulful. I would have to know much more about Chicago’s uptempo scenes to properly classify this EP but I either way I really enjoy it and I think an enormous part of The Underdogg EP’s appeal is that despite being quite minimal in it’s instrumentation it still manages to sit between so many things I love without ever being any particular one of them.
