Articles
2014 TOP 10s & 20s
Dday One

Albums
2562
Poppy Ackroyd
Blueneck
Nicholas Chase
Vicky Chow
Carlos Cipa
Dale Cooper + Witxes
Dday One
Federico Durand
English + Vitiello
Everyday Dust
Eyck and Tarnow
Faded Ranger
Grouper
Robert Hood
Human Greed
The Invaderz
Thomas Köner
Kontext
Akira Kosemura
Heiko Laux
Norberto Lobo
Andrew McIntosh
Monolog
Aina Myrstener Cello
Northumbria
Michael Nyman
One World Symphony
Postma & Osby
David Pritchard
[.que]
See Through Trio
Dirk Serries
Jakob Skøtt
Miguel Zenón

Reissue
Hassell and Eno

Compilations
Air Texture Volume IV
Emerging Organisms 5
Hyperdub 10.4

EPs / Singles
David Ahlen
Blu Mar Ten
Boston feat. Solis
DIFFER-Ent (By DJ Bone)
Gone Beyond
Matthias Grübel
Lami / Ratti
Lubomyr Melnyk
Ryo Murakami
Om Unit
Pursuit Grooves

Pursuit Grooves: Lift EP
What Rules Recordings

Pursuit Grooves' latest EP should do nothing but enhance the reputation Toronto, Ontario-based Vanese Smith has built up via full-lengths such as Frantically Hopeful (Tectonic Recordings, 2011) and Broadcasting A Sensory Sequence (What Rules, 2013). Though modest in length at thirteen minutes, Lift 's four cuts are stylistically consistent with Smith's own description of her sound: “Electronic Travels through Soul, Bass, House, and Hip-Hop.”

Suggesting that the release will be anything but a set of cut-throat club bangers, “Slow Drag” opens Lift with a languorous melange of kick drums, claps, and hi-hats, all of it sprinkled with Smith's soulful musings. Uptempo by comparison, “Get It” rolls out a spirited beat swagger whose funky swing is beefed up with thick synth chords and trippy swirls. Heavy on Smith's multi-tracked vocalizing, the brooding rumination “Bigger Than We” signals a left-turn into soulful balladry, albeit one refracted through the Pursuit Grooves prism. All of the elements associated with the project's sound—claps, bleepy synth stabs and melodies, jittery beats, and vocals—re-appear in “Dedicated” to bring the concise set to a close. The EP not only makes a strong case for Smith as a producer, songwriter, and singer but suggests that her profile deserves to be much larger than it currently is.

December 2014