textura

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loscil
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Fabriclive 65: DJ Hazard
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Nobuto Suda
Andy Vaz

Andy Vaz: Imaginary Beings
Chiwax

Andy Vaz's latest EP, which isn't issued on the Yore main man's own label but instead on Chiwax (a sub-label of the Berlin-based Rawax), features four fresh tracks done in Vaz's inimitable style. The third track's title, “Minimal Acid,” provides a convenient way into the release as Imaginary Beings is noticeably more acid-inflected than Vaz's recent output. Sure, acid has emerged in his music before, but all four tracks on the new EP veer noticeably into acid territory.

Setting the EP's tone, “Imaginary Beings” digs into its breezy groove instantly and rolls out claps, creamy chords, and synth flourishes to help keep the music in free flight. The sound is luscious and the view scenic, filled as it is with generous amounts of constantly evolving detail. The opening cut's laid-back vibe is amped up a notch or two in “He Used to Be an Asian,” whose rolling club groove percolates even more insistently as it mutates ever so subtly into a bumping acid throwdown.

True to its name, the B-side's jacking jam “Minimal Acid” gurgles from the get-go while stripping its beat pattern to its essence. The mood dramatically changes, however, once the female vocalist's soulful riffing enters to take the music to a higher level of intensity. The EP's final cut, “Lost Groove Morning,” dims the lights for a comparatively more laid-back exercise in house and funk, with this time a wiry bass pulse carving a path through a fog of pumping hi-hats and “I feel it” vocal expressions. Having released music since 2001, Vaz has, at this stage, built up a rather staggering discography with EPs and singles in especially plentiful number. Imaginary Beings registers as a quality addition to that total output, even if its acid-heavy sound doesn't take it into heretofore unexplored territory.

October 2012