…an immersive experience, clearly influenced by recent club sounds, though better suited to late night listening on headphones. In fact, it wouldn’t be at all out of place on the Hyperdub label, alongside the likes of Burial, Darkstar and Kode9…
Bristol-based producer, DJ and remixer Joseph McGann must be a very busy man indeed. Not only does he make some wonderfully chilled out 2-step as Kähn, but he’s also part of the Sureskank collective, who put on nights in Joseph’s home city, release a variety of electronic music and sell some wicked hoodies and t-shirts, and he does all this in addition to helping run the Young Echo radio station and producing under the name of Baba Yaga with fellow Bristolian Vessel.
Altar, which is being released on experimental Bristol label A Future Without, is a more personal and expressive project for Joseph than some of his more dancefloor orientated stuff. It begins with dark, reverb-laden sounds and effected vocals, which nicely set the scene for each of the four tracks offered up here, before the shuffled beats, sub bass and heavily treated rave stabs arrive to underpin proceedings. It’s an immersive experience, clearly influenced by recent club sounds, though better suited to late night listening on headphones. In fact, it wouldn’t be at all out of place on the Hyperdub label, alongside the likes of Burial, Darkstar and Kode9.
The first two tracks, “Stop Me Dead” and “Miss You When I’m Drinking,” also feature Joseph’s supremely subtle lyrics, which are delivered in an almost whispered, spoken word fashion, with an occasional sung line to grab the listener’s attention. The subject matter is based around relationships, and when backed up with an urban, post-Burial soundtrack, it is both evocative of city nightlife and full of alluring imagery about being infatuated with someone.
The title track, featuring a singer known simply as Jasmine, takes the EP to new heights. The 2-step beats of the previous tunes are dropped in favour of a groove that has more in keeping with Bristol’s past, namely the mid-to-late 90s trip-hop sound of Massive Attack. The first half is led with picked guitar chords, haunting cello sounds and whispy vocal trails. Indeed, it seems that the track will drift in this fashion until its conclusion, but suddenly the beats drop out and indistinct vocal sounds swell up to introduce Jasmine’s fantastic voice. From then on, she takes centre stage, conjuring up some memorable hooks that are heavily echoed for a dubbier feel.
Vocals again play a part in the final track, “Sepia,” but they are chopped up and lyric-less, in the same way that, say, Mount Kimbie tend to employ them. The beats and bass also return to more of a 2-step formula, and even evoke a hint of Darkstar’s dancefloor banger “Need You.”
Overall, this EP is mightily impressive. The only problem is that it all comes to a close just that little bit too soon. Nevertheless, it’s a fantastic collection of tunes and seems to hold a promise that Kähn will be doing bigger things in the future – he should definitely work with Jasmine again, that’s for certain. And if you’re after more Kähn or you just want a little taster, there’s a beautiful (and free) remix of Floetry’s “Say Yes” available here.
Altar EP is out now on A Future Without.
