- Pépé Bradock is almost impossible to pin down. Literally. A friend told me that he recently interviewed him via IM, and it took him days to finish the thing. Every time he'd send over a question, a reply would come back hours later as though he was mulling over the most infuriatingly mysterious way to answer it. Listening to his music, you'd expect nothing less. Bradock is the only artist I know that'd name a 12-inch Swimsuit Issue 1789. And, more importantly, for the music to sound exactly like the swimsuit issue from 1789.
Needless to say, things are once again a bit odd on Swimsuit Issue 1789. "Path of Most Resistance" is somewhat surprisingly one of his most infectious recent house numbers, bouncing along on a treated synth melody as though it didn't have a care in the world while what sound like masses of birds pop up throughout to pleasantly cloud things up. For almost any other producer, it'd be a revelation. (And it is another slice of Bradock genius.) But you also get the sense that he has reams of this stuff just lying around.
Like B-side opener "CU @ Minna & Lafayette," which has that same mid-tempo house bounce and shivers and shakes as though the whole thing is about to come apart at any moment. (That's what analog equipment will give you apparently. It isn't raw so much as it's refreshingly cheap sounding.) "Unapologetic Weightlessness," meanwhile, lets Bradock get his jollies with a green melody line that seems unable to stop quivering. Smooth pads, a bassoon and other assorted wackiness ensure underneath, but good luck trying to figure out why. Even if you got a hold of him, I'm sure you'd be left with more answers than questions. For some reason, though, I like it like that.
TracklistA Path Of Most Resistance
B1 CU @ Minna & Lafayette
B2 Unapologetic Weightlessness