An odd thing happened when I came to review this record. Inadvertently, I
played it at 33rpm instead of 45rpm but found it sounded better to my ears
at the slower speed and so reviewed it at that speed. The moral of this
story is that you should always play music at whatever speed sounds better
to you, especially if the record itself doesn’t tell you the speed it is
meant to be played at. On with the review…
The third 7″ single in the second series from Expanding Records presents
the listening public with the debut release from Praveen Sharma, a
classically trained pianist and self taught guitarist and drummer. Lushly
packaged in a thick plastic ziplock bag with screen printed graphics, the
single is pressed on heavy red transparent vinyl.
“Circle Song” consists of a sharply clinical bassline and almost chime-like
melodies interacting with other sounds that come in and out of the mix on
various levels. Fast yet inconspicuous beats are added further into the
track along with a percussive accompaniment and swirling ambient textural
synths to add more depth as the track progresses. Sharma’s interest in
hip-hop through his electronica meets hip-hop radio show on New York’s
Percussion Lab shows through at the start of “Nameless (P.Diggity.Dog)” and
also explains the subtitle for the track. The only other indication of a
hip-hip influence here is the presence of slowed down hip-hip style beats
that become more like breaks before long. Besides that, “Nameless”
consists mainly of soaring ambient synths similar to those used on “Circle
Song” yet somehow more expressive and harrowing.
On the face of it Sharma’s debut offerings may appear to be just nice
beat-infused melodic electronic tracks and while there might not be
anything particularly innovative on offer, Expanding’s high quality control
shows through and once again they offer some excellent electronic music in
what is shaping up to be another interesting and enjoyable series of
singles. Look out for future releases in the series from Myrakaru, Bauri,
Holkam, Vs_Price, Monoceros and Maps & Diagrams and of course the CD
compilation with further exclusive tracks from series contributors (and
others) following the final single release.
Circle Song is out now on Expanding Records.
