drowzə - Carlsb​ə​rg

You just know some shit is real when you see certain icons under the Bandcamp release cover. Whether it’s navi, Hashquatch, juliandurbin or jevonzgouken (among many others), if I find a new tape and one of these many legends has copped it, I’m giving it a listen. drowzə is undoubtedly one of those dudes, where that blown-up plastic figurine is pasted under almost 4,000 Bandcamp titles and counting, with no signs of slowing down. I say all this because I can’t help but listen to Carlsb​ə​rg without its context, because it feels somewhat groundbreaking that someone whose been such a silent and humble supporter for so many years is now dropping their own body of work in the very same strain of instrumental hiphop that’s grown with him. It feels fitting that drowzə’s first tape feels so diverse but undeniably unique, coming right out the gate to tap into various sounds and styles both new and old, all laced with loose drums that almost feel like all his own now. Carlsb​ə​rg is like souring down a waterslide in a huge industrial brewery, twisting and turning to be offered new brews while mountains of pilsner rushes underneath you. But the hops are always there with every new beat; drowzə’s sporadic drums seeming to bounce off each other where you almost forget where the 1 is, only bringing you back in with the start of every loop. There’s an amazing amount of diversity in the drum selection alone which I love, where at once you might hear a hard-hitting snare or a quick bleep or drop of beer hitting the bottom of the surface. An expectedly wide range of sample influences is on display here across a range of 40 years or so, from more tender jazzy moments on Observation to bare-all soulful belters on Rotten Wings with RAGz. By the end of the project you’re almost 20 beers deep, drunk and stumbling off the slide by Peace and knowing you’ll do it all again soon. It’s such a solid and gratifying first effort from drowzə that I can’t stop from smiling with every spin of it, and brings me great joy to think I’ve discovered so much similarly great music through people like him. He’s an undoubtable veteran in my mind and having dropped a tape that’s this awesome feels like a full circle moment; but in some ways it feels like just the beginning. He might be a self-described “witness to greatness,” but what he’s created here is nothing short of great.

KEY BEAT: High - I remember shit was getting real when I first heard this one on soundcloud, beats banging out the headphones and a simple sample casting absolute bliss. This one gives me chills every time.