ΔKTR - LALA

This one casts my mind back to first year university; newfound independence leading to an exploratory time with music and a deeper dive into particular tastes. It was this year I dove deeper into Bandcamp and the beat scene within - from Lil Ugly Mane to Impossible Nothing - and on the same list of ‘all time greatest Bandcamp instrumental hiphop albums’ I pressed play on LALA. It was a really jarring experience the first time I heard it in its immersion, slow pacing and expansive source material. But I was so intrigued by the warm world it was embodying; tape film unfurling with a myriad of crooning vocals and sunsoaked sax and keys, all blasting through the same cans on the cover. I’m no less enamoured by the drum placement as I was in 2017, kicks bouncing at odd times creating unique pockets, working with that incredible technique where you can hardly hear the kicks at all, but instead finding the groove through the ducking and swaying of the crisp hihats and crunchy snares around them. The first half of the tape is slow and considered, letting every hit of slap bass and squelchy synth ride out until it moves onto the next, but its in its second half where the more fiery and hooky moments appear (the psychadelia of Treaturite and yearning of Here bumping in my headphones for many a walk from Central to UTS). It’s not a perfect tape but it holds a special place in my heart; one of the first of many tapes I’d love in an echoing energy and aesthetic, and a soundtrack to a time in my life I’ll always remember.

KEY BEAT: Anytimeihere (ft. Akeedro) - one of the simplest moments but one I could run up for countless hours. Everything about this is perfect to me, from the ascending keys to little hits of saxophone, all wrapped up in slowly shuffling hihats and kicks. It’s so cold and one of my favourites ever.