fredd's music corner

As a producer's producer, Arts has created an album that sounds like the work of a small jazz band, not a one man-show, and definitely not the work of a one-man producer. Featuring keyboard, drum and bass sounds as well as guest appearance from Dutch rappers Pete Philly, Sense and The Proov the songs seamlessly transition from jazz to ethereal piano to trip-hop beats. Each song has a laid-back, cinematic feel that creates a specific ambiance, that of smoky bars, late-night conversations, and the wee hours before dawn when the world is eerily quiet yet also amazingly alive.

The overall feel of Soon It Will Be Cold Enough is just that - a general chilled out vibe. Beginning on Eve, you are introduced to the frigid violin strings and piano lines that resonate throughout the album. After a slight build up, the drum beat kicks in, and retreats out and in several times over the track, and you are officially thrown into this wintry experience. The atmosphere that I visualize when hearing this is that of a forest somewhere away from civilization, during the First Snow of the season. A similar array of trip-hop drums and piano occurs on this track accompanied by some acoustic guitar furthers the journey into the wilderness. More suspenseful, the beat relaxes midway with a nostalgic sample of a man only to reminisce on another time. Many of the tracks have this sort of feeling such as With Rainy Eyes and Good Knight, incorporating light female incoherent vocals.

Emanon is a duo from LA that formed in the 90s, and released several recorded works between the late 90s and mid 00s. Since 2005 no further collaborative works have been released, and Exile, the producer of the two, has had two releases, including one this year. These works come across as having rough production, but this is due to the method originally used to digitize them. Regardless, their beats and lyrical content is really interesting, and these tracks are good examples of their work. I think you’ll agree after a listen that Emanon is worth looking in to further.

What if Nujabes was more bombastic and funky? Then he'd be Shingo Suzuki.