electronic/dance/experimental

Graze make hard to define electronic music. It's definitely dance, but it also works great for home listening, driving around, etc. Their rhythm programming generally fuses breakbeats and four-on-the-floor techno in a pretty seamless way, and it's almost always intricate without being showy about it. And when they're not being totally sparse, they create some great texture. This is a very good single, something to tide listeners over until their album comes out next month (which I'm very excited for based on the one listen I've given it). I'm not quite as into this as their other work, but I'll definitely be playing it anyway (it's still really good). If you've only got a small amount of room in your show/life for this sort of thing, start with their "Edges" EP and go from there.

RIYL: Martyn, 2562, Machinedrum, bass music labels that start with the letter "H" (Hessle, Hemlock, Hotflush)

1: lush not-quite-electro textures, syrupy bass. drums start out a little jungle-y, but slowly fold in techno elements. bass and melody occasionally get blown out for a while throughout the song. surprisingly subtle use of whistles and short reggae chants compared to the way they're normally deployed, though this track is unhinged by graze's usually restrained standards. that threw me a little at first, and i'm still not quite as into it as i am their prior couple albums or the album they've got coming in november, but it's still a great song (that i'd probably love wholeheartedly if i didn't know the rest of their work). 6:52
2: and then this one's restrained even by graze's standards. ticky hats, chilly misty pads, big kicks. ticky rising woodblocks enter about 1/3 of the way in. mostly a percussion workout, but holds my interest just fine despite being about 6 minutes of drums and faint atmosphere. emphasizes the breakbeats over the techy aspects. i think this is my favorite of the two. 5:45