wAgAwAgA has an unusual take on music, with deep basses, really interesting beats and odd field recordings in abundance. He instantly stands out as having a unique style—not aggressive but not altogether passive. Innovative but not leaving the familiar completely in the shadows.
I’ve been a fan of wAgAwAgA for a while now, ever since I first heard his debut release Mrepsican on Acroplane in 2008. He has an unusual take on music, with deep basses, really interesting beats and odd field recordings in abundance. He instantly stood out as having a unique style, not aggressive but not altogether passive, innovative but not leaving the familiar completely in the shadows. In fact, that first EP was a bit of a favourite amongst a few people I know.
This release on Record Label Records contains all the elements which initially made his music stand out, but of course his own musical journey has moved on a pace in the last four years. This time it appears that Sam, for that is his name, has done a bit of traveling, and taken along some recording devices with him. Midnight Sampler contains numerous samples of exotic sounding instruments and sounds that sound as if they belong to some bustling street corner in the sweltering heat of some far off land. As it turns out, many of them do thanks to some globetrotting towards the Pakistan area. This trip has evidently yielded an abundance of creative impetus, enough for a whole album in fact.
To describe the music contained in this release is no easy task. It tends to defy genres. Dub influenced with lots of guitar and loads of ‘ethnic’ (for want of a better word) samples is a small start maybe. The thing is, the music jumps about quite a lot between tempo, feel and time signature, but manages to somehow stay coherent, albeit in a slightly disorienting manner. As an example, the track I’m listening to now—”Flagnag dub”—is regularly jumping between abstracted bass sounds with what sounds like monkey shrieks being messed with by pitch and speed, and aggressive old school hardcore breakbeats. It’s odd, but it really does work. I strongly recommend that you check out the work of wAgAwAgA—it’s very interesting. Regardless of anything you may feel about this music, I defy anyone not to be impressed at some point by the production techniques employed by this producer. Being able to make these crazy transitions flow without hiccup and to incorporate so much raw material in such a variety of uses is a work of genius in itself.
Oh, and credit goes to Acroplane for first discovering this guy and putting his stuff out there. Not everyone would have done it!
Midnight Sampler is available on Record Label Records. Buy at RLR, Amazon, iTunes or Juno.
