For those seeking a fresh drum & bass sound, or for longtime adherents of the minimal aesthetic pioneered by labels like Med School and Exit, The Truth is required reading.
Geography cannot be wholly ignored in music. Here in the New World I’ve been to plenty of shows where the performer looks up from their set every twenty minutes hoping that this time they will glimpse some much needed local population growth, only to again witness a crowd less than a quarter of the size to that which they are accustomed. As much nihilistic fun is provided by watching this process repeat itself until two in the morning, the lesson remains that an inconceivable tether exists between music and the culture that lent its genesis whose breakage most often results in death. On the more positive side of this concept, every once in a while a distant land will offer a fresh reinterpretation. Drum & bass, a genre held to be nothing if not a quintessentially UK endeavor, has put down firm roots in Eastern Europe and over the years a divergent evolution has produced an aesthetic all its own, tending towards ambient minimal structures grown from abandoned Soviet metros and habitation modules. Largely unknown to those on the other side of the iron curtain, these artists are now reaching Westerner listeners in greater volume thanks to the direct efforts of curators like Hospital’s up-and-coming Med School imprint. Ukrainian producer Sunchase (Alexander Pavlenko) joins Slavic contemporaries like Bop, Unquote, and Subwave on this progressive label with the release of his latest EP The Truth.
Those familiar with Pavlenko’s work will no doubt remember most his lauded debut album Static Nitro, and while he has released a handful of singles and remixes in the meantime The Truth is his most serious outing since. I remember a certain impressionable college student naïve to proper jungle being turned on to the poorly-lit underbelly of minimal drum & bass via the intricate pathways of Static Nitro, and that labyrinth sound is alive and well on The Truth. What’s most impressive however is the amazing variety of structure present on this release: each of the six tracks is wholly unique. While the omnipresent amen break is certainly featured, the EP pulls out some downright arresting variety in beat construction that displays this idiosyncrasy wonderfully. Standout tracks include “Kolo,” a collaboration with industry stables Blu Mar Ten featuring a subtle reese growl, and the closing track “Slowly,” a cascading wave of spaced bells and stellar oceans. One track in particular stands in stark contrast to the rest: number four, “Think Of.” This one is straight, unabashed liquid funk, Sunchase’s first go at the genre and a terrific showing. It’s not hard to imagine Tony Coleman himself cracking his signature half-smirk of approval as he listens to it through pastel colored vintage headphones, connected via curly wire to a series of vacuum tubes. For those seeking a fresh drum & bass sound, or for longtime adherents of the minimal aesthetic pioneered by labels like Med School and Exit, The Truth is required reading.
The Truth is available on Med School.
