Album: Plug EP (2011)Track: Lavacorn
Choppy intro:
The music opens with some chopped vinyl samples. I can hear some strings and an indistinguishable male vocal. Along with this is a modulating synth sliding between two mid range pitches. A female vocal sample is added at the end of every second measure.
Percussion:
There is some percussion which sounds like a dampened or choked crash cymbal that comes in with each male vocal. After this four bar introduction a heavy kick drum leads into the next section. There is a heavy side chain compression applied to the strings which keys from the kick drum. Joining the kick drum is a slightly open sounding hi hat and a snap/crack snare drum.
Crooked / wonky groove:
The drum groove “crooked” sounding - typical of this genre. A ¼ cycle swing is applied to the hi hat and the snare (on beats two and four) is played just in front (early) of the beat. As well as another female vocal, two synth lines are soon added playing on a 1/32 note subdivision. The second of these plays a higher octave creating a “sparkly” tone.
Bass:
The bassline drops in with this second “sparkly” synth. The bass makes heavy use of the subwoofer with powerful low frequencies. The thickness of the sound and the fact that I can hear some higher frequencies in the bass suggests to me a doubling of the bass on a higher octave.
Breakdown:
After 4 bars of this section, the mix drops down into another section free of the samples that emphasizes the kick drum and a large lo-fi bass swell. A different more organic marching drum type of snare fills through beats 3 and 4. The swelling bass has a long attack creating the effect of it growing out of the kick. It is highly distorted and has the warm but rough texture of a square wave. In the second half of this breakdown, it is doubled with the second playing a higher register. In between each kick there is a “bloop” and “blop” type of sound. I’m not sure what techniques are needed to make this sound. After the breakdown the previous melody returns led by another female vocal (more coarse sounding than the last). Above this are sample cuts of applause. The arrangement continues in this pattern ending with the lo-fi bass breakdown.
It's on Bandcamp:
This EP is a free download. Thanks to Bandcamp you can even download it in FLAC quality!
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