Dutch E. Germ - IN.RAK.DUST

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  • There's a moment in "IntroXXXWar," the first track on IN.RAK.DUST, where the tense calm of chimes, carefully cultivated over three minutes, is suddenly bludgeoned by a screaming vocal sample. It's tempting to read that brutal destruction as a metaphor—Tim DeWit almost died in 2008 when he was shot in the heart during a robbery. He was forced to leave the band he helped start, Gang Gang Dance, just as they were about to release their most acclaimed album. No longer able to perform live, he turned his attention towards solo production, and IN.RAK.DUST is his first major work after various soundtracks and commissioned projects. Released for free on UNO, it quakes with the energy of an artist coming to grips with the chaos of life around him. Much like Gang Gang Dance's 21st century art rock, Dutch E Germ's music borrows bits and bobs from contemporary dance and rearranges them into forms that should be unwieldy but hold up anyway. The music's stagger and tilt smacks of hip-hop (like the tranquil trap of "Nami Nami"), but it's too dissolute to stay within any one structure. Dewit deconstructs rap tropes the same way his labelmate Gobby dissolves house and techno, only his own demolitions are intricate, more than you might believe from the LP's shocking intro. Every sound is purposeful and clear, executed with the uncomfortable brightness of vapourwave aesthetics. The title track's piano shimmers against its grainy background, while the resonant lead on "40z Angel" is like someone playing the glass harp right next to your ear. The billowing and exotic vocal samples in "Nami Nami" and "Rani," meanwhile, have a futuristic glow to them, as if they treated with plutonium. With each song bleeding to the next and constant left turns, the formlessness of IN.RAK.DUST is its own kind of thrill. The record is resolutely unpredictable over its entire 40 minutes, never settling into a comfort zone. The only thing more striking about IN.RAK.DUST than its weirdness is just how damn addictive it is, revealing new sounds with every listen.
  • Tracklist
      01. IntroXXXWar 02. Black Sea 03. Nami Nami 04. IN.RAK.DUST 05. Nine 06. Elephant 07. 40oz Angel 08. Mint Noise 09. Rani 10. Real Cuts Blud 11. Hausa Riddim
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