am04 - Self Titled

Like so many other great beatmakers, I first heard am04 through his unique contribution to Cise Greeny’s Ray Gun, really intrigued by the slow sludgy beat on Slowpoke Diaz. I’ve been running back the nocturnal Echo World tape ‘spiritualized’ plenty of times over the past year but from what I’ve heard from him, his self titled tape rightfully feels like his biggest statement. Like a victory lap from all the amassing tapes and projects leading up to this point, the Self Titled feels equally grand and subdued in scope, those same slow-moving beats occasionally filled with a bit more brightness. It’s an assortment of various flavours ranging from the summery (like ‘dulcet’) to sombre (see ‘term’), pulling together a range of different jazzy, soulful and occasionally orchestral influences into something that feels completely special to the artist. A lot of this feels informed by the great features on this as well, where I can imagine bacomartinez and duro flipping the same samples differently but no less evocatively. Sometimes am04’s drums are hardhitting and direct (like the Busta flip on ‘staytuned’), but the patterns a lot of the time feel like they’re trudging through mud, especially on a track like ‘aaa’ where the really sporadic hihats somehow blend with snares that feel so behind the beat they’re almost falling off. It’s in this constantly-shifting pacing that this tape can feel a little jarring, but it’s all the more engaging for it. Just like any great self-titled, am04’s tape feels true to himself, but ultimately feels really engaging for the listener.

KEY BEAT: chatran - while hard to pick a favourite on this one, this beat gives me chills every time, kicks falling over cinematic strings and synths, only opening the gates to a wash of woodwinds to break the tension.