Roel seems to be embracing the fusion of electronic forces, yet is forging further with sound and rhythm, and bending production. There is ample high-energy basslines, creative womps and morphing 4×4 to suffice a live audience as well as the ears of thirsty electronic experimentalists in this release.
With the New Year brings the release of Roel Funcken’s Fes Bace, on Eat Concrete: A four track collection of sophistically heady, immensely bass heavy dance floor bangers. The release continues in Roel’s signature Funcken style: walking the fine line on the forefront of dubstep/bass music butters and forging further with experimental production. Fes Bace beats to a similar drum as Skinetic Culpture versus his latest, more laid back, Scure EP (Eat Concrete), yet is channeled in a tighter, more rhythmic and bass soaked style toward moving bodies through sound systems.
Roel’s remix of Julien Mier’s “Spletch,” can be described as dub/downtempo rebuild of its original electronica state by comparing elements and overall feel. The track steadily builds and compounds until overflowing. Arriving at the crescendo, the track changes artistic direction substantially, with a gargantuan guillotine drop of ionized wobble fills, then diving further into rhythmic deconstruction and molten sub synthesis. “ALH84001” is a dub-tech bass growler reminiscent of Roel’s collaborative work in the earlier Dubstoned (Funckarma) releases. The repeating vocal samples provide an uplifting golden age [glitch]-hop feel tucked within the dark industrialesque layers and razor sharp synth stabs, creating malleable phrasing with successions of cuts alongside stop and go drumming. “Skinetic Culpture,” which was first released in Roel’s 2011 EP by the same name, is a two-step metallic wobbling excursion that slowly rolls in and out with gritty harmonic texture. Piercing outside the kicks and immense rumble are quick stabs and jumpy full frequency textures, which compliment the overall synthesis. The closer, “FaceBace,” provides some catch from a melody/vocal phrasing within a dubstep framework. A great amount of sound variation, evolution of the rhythm and a multitude of organic accents work together to really carry the listener through an IDM soundscape.
As a release, the work in Fes Bace is difficult to neatly classify in terms of current electronic genres. Rather the tracks seem to hover over multiple genres and playing styles (many times simultaneously). Roel seems to be embracing the fusion of electronic forces, yet is forging further with sound and rhythm, and bending production. There is ample high-energy basslines, creative womps and morphing 4×4 to suffice a live audience as well as the ears of thirsty electronic experimentalists in this release.
Fes Bace is available on Eat Concrete.
