Four Hands: Home EP
Sub.Culture

Originating out of San Antonio, Texas courtesy of the newly formed Sub.Culture Collective, Home is the latest music project from San Antonio-based producer Josh Lucio under the Four Hands name. It's a generously stuffed EP featuring eight beatmaker cuts rooted in garage, funk, dub, and dubstep, among others. Lucio created the tracks by “recycling old sound fonts” and reworking finished and unfinished material from past projects. By lowering the tempo and working in a number of syncopated beats, he discovered he was able to change up his sound without completely sacrificing the identity he'd forged in his previous productions.

It's fresh, bass-heavy material rich in beat science and atmosphere and drenched in samples and reverb. Smothered in atmospheric crackle and voices, “Artificial” and the title track ooze a strongly aromatic future garage vibe. An effective counterpoint to the Rastaman vibrations of an unnamed MC, the bass thunders especially wickedly during “Skin Man,” while the garage-styled pulse animating “Knife Rituals” swings with irrepressible intent. At forty-two minutes, Home is long by EP standards, even if its fifteen-minute closer splits “Sunsets From Space” and a hidden track with five minutes of silence. Though there are moments on Home that might be likened to a sped-up Burial, Four Hands generally speaking holds up as a stand-alone project, even if there are clear ties to specific genres and artists.

June 2015