ethanbar† x resident. - Obsequious
Yet another one I found through the ever-reliable Hashquatch, two greats in this instrumental hiphop scene stir some absolute alchemy on this tape. I’ve been slowly discovering more and more of ethanbar†’s backcatalogue very organically after hearing many amazing beats on old comps from Contraband to LUCUMI. And from the few things still available on Bandcamp and various SC archival pages, resident/gradiol has slowly crept up to be one of my all time favourite producers, drawing from numerous influences but crafting a sound I haven’t heard anyone fully replicate before or since. Obsequious carries that unique quality where I’m still deciphering, beyond countless listens, who did what; but I’ve taken my best estimated guess. It’s on a track like nightvoices where the beautifully arranged chops carry the song forward, ethanbar†’s double hits of crunchy snares and steady hihats underpinning the heavy groove. But it’s on a beat like Nullify which couldn’t be anyone but resident, syncopated hats dragging behind punchy kicks that seem to be placed perfectly, snares absolutely slamming in a way pretty much unachievable. I do think this project inhabits this feeling unlike many other great collab tapes of its time, where in a similar way to a really fruitful jam session, it’s like they’ve both shared the same brain, making it almost completely indecipherable who to credit for which song. All I know is that it feels packed with good energy, uplifting slices of soul paired up with driving drums on just about every track. I can’t recommend it enough as a unique piece of music, and I really couldn’t have put it any better than Hash: “plenty of slaps to go around on this one as you go on a trip down lo-fi lane.”
KEY BEAT: Skit 1 - the feeling this one gives off is almost indescribable, laced with scattered hihats in the style he’d make his own under the gradiol name, cryptic lines of spoken word looping around a spacy neon synth that really makes you feel like you’re floating. I’ve heard this tape so many times, but this is always the one.