Blacksmif - And the Sun Rose Out

  • Share
  • There's a whole lot going on in the debut EP from Blacksmif, aka London's Yemi Olagbaiye. Across four tracks, he squashes in lush pads, sax solos, cut-up jazz drumming, Hoover bass, piano glissandi, skipping garage hi-hats and rimshots, down-pitched voices, etc. While it shares the moody inclinations of a lot of dubstep-not-dubstep since Burial, it's way busier than a lot of its brethren, preferring to come off as manic than merely polite—but it's a soft, opulent kind of chaos. You can hear an echo of Amon Tobin's influence, particularly in the churning drums of the title track and the walking bass of "Training Day"; Aphex Twin and Feed Me Weird Things-era Squarepusher both come to mind in "Deerhunter," with its majestic pads and breakneck breaks. "MANDY," an atmospheric garage tune at 140 BPM, manages to stake out a position between Flying Lotus and FaltyDL. How well it all translates to the dance floor is a different question—awash in luxurious textures, the gauze sometimes obscures the not inconsiderable muscle. But you get the sense that the sunrise of the title is a reference to the period after the club's doors have closed, when the mind continues to race, unfettered by more narrowly "functional" concerns.
  • Tracklist
      01. ...And The Sun Rose Out 02. Deerhunter 03. M.A.N.D.Y 04. Training Day
RA