“Singles plays out like a “best-of” record of songs you’ve never heard before.”
By Ryan Meaney
What makes instrumental LP’s so exciting is their vast infiniteness. You throw on J Dilla’s Donuts or scour YouTube for that rare Grateful Dead jam, and it lifts you to a place far beyond where you thought your mind could take you.
I find myself ruminating on left-field ideas while old jazz samples run through my head, all the while not even realizing my foot has been tapping for twenty minutes straight. Hyspec’s Singles is a compilation LP* by definition, but it really plays out more like midnight drive song cycle: a collection of beats pulled together to create that out of body experience musicians and artists dream of.
Singles plays out like a “best-of” record of songs you’ve never heard before. Made up of young beat makers from across the Twin Cities and Eau Claire, it brings a sense of brevity to a thriving scene. There is a teeming sense of familiarity with each song, yet a palpable freshness that creates a new experience with each listen; a Stones Throw throwaway that would cause Doom to dust off the mask and spit a cold verse over Infinity Suite’s “Bloodmoon.”
The opening track “Remedy” sees Maksha playing on an almost footwork type drum beat with drilling synths that play off one another perfectly. It’s as if the late DJ Rashad remixed his favorite Flying Lotus song and blessed us with “Remedy;” essential listening indeed.
The one non-instrumental track: “Breeze,” by 2infinity (Infinity SuiteXTheRealVirgo) sees MC TheRealVirgo float over the airy beat with a deft lyrical touch. However, the most beautiful moment comes within the final ten seconds of the song, when the hovering flute throughout the song finds its match in a sexy saxophone, perfectly mirroring one another.
The record is full of subtle beauty that adds up to an astonishing body of work. The transition from Rawlite’s “Living While I Can” into _whtspce’s “Cura-Zendata”, features a beat stop on “Cura”, but instead of a beat change, the synths layer again to lift the listener to new heights.
Moments like this come maybe once or twice on an LP, whereas Hyspec has created an album full of them. It is an inspiring listen, a journey through the art of beat making from a crew that is still so young. It will be a true joy to see where their art takes them next, but no matter where it goes we should all be paying attention.
*Hyspec is a record label & a creative platform. Tracks on Singles are by: Maksha, Infinity Suite, 2infinity: (Infinity SuiteXTheRealVirgo), Phib, Adriatic, _whtspce, Infinity Space, Rawlite & Artifex.
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