| Musically Massive |
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| URB Magazine |
The term “summer” implies a few things, none of which stray far from a basic concept: it’s the season to have a damn good time. Perfectly on cue, New York beatmaker David Last and dancehall/reggae artist Zulu have constructed Musically Massive, an album that, for the majority of the time, continuously hits upon this theme in some form or another, be it songs tailor-made for shaking one’s booty on the dance floor or others that could provide the background music at your buddy’s BBQ. With production that incorporates an almost-ridiculous spectrum of elements from techno, electro, reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop, Last provides the ideal setting for the Panamanian MC to deliver his Caribbean-style vocals. Zulu’s baritone voice, with his assortment of reggae-style harmonies and rap-like flows, sounds right at home over the collection of beats, as he tackles subjects that vary from upbeat club anthems to female-directed sex tunes (the tracks “Uptown Party Life” and “Caresss” are appropriately titled, to say the least).
But be especially careful to avoid the skip button around the midway point in the album, as the mood stiffens up a little and Zulu demonstrates his story-telling abilities on the emotional anti-corruption tale “Monday Morning.” On the following track, “License to Kill,” he tells the tale of an outlaw-turned-mercenary, paralleling the story to musical artists who enjoy the spoils but remain slaves to the corporate world, “like rats in a maze.” While most party-specializing MCs struggle outside the walls of the club, Zulu sounds just as natural and doubly as passionate when delving into deeper topics. And, as this takes place, the equally versatile David Last masterfully alters the atmosphere from electro to techno to dancehall to reggae and back around, following the words wherever they go. One genre simply cannot contain all 14 songs the duo supplies on this offering. Musically Massive indeed. |
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| Big Up Magazine |
Well, well, well… this definitely takes the cake for being my favorite record of 2009, shattering boundaries of all styles of electronic and reggae music. Due out in April 2009, this is simply amazing pop music that has managed to reign in the best elements of minimal techno, pop, IDM, and dancehall into a massive leap forward in the future of music. David Last and MC Zulu have gone straight for the jugular by creating fourteen tracks of a new electro-dancehall style unheard of anywhere, and mastered it upon their first release together. What is most notable about the release is that it is so accessible – anybody can enjoy it without knowing the context. It is for this reason that the release has completely succeeded in all facets. It can satisfy the most knowledgeable underground folks and somebody’s girlfriend all at the same time without even trying, leaving a smile on everybody’s face.
NYC’s David Last is well known for his work on Agriculture and Unfoundsound, spanning the realms of IDM, crafty dancehall, and experimental sound design work that has a skip to it and sense of unbridled fun. MC Zulu, well known across the world of dread bass as an ambassador between the burgeoning electronic music movements and dancehall, has been working with artists like Ghislain Porier, SouthRakkasCrew, and Aceyalone, murdering tunes one by one in his distinct double time bashment singing. The moment the record came on, I felt like I was hearing something new for the very first time in years, a soundset of lush minimal techno drums, bass, melodies, and MC Zulu with full-on tunes spanning a selection of minimal techno, IDM, dancehall, and technotic party grooves that simply kill. The combination is totally unique in its approach: very reserved and minimal, with lots of motion and a completely epic year’s leap forward in the scheme of reggae music. MC Zulu’s bold vocals stand out as the main instrument in this record, guiding the listener through tales of his life, societal tribulations, and all aspects of relationships. Meticulous songwriting and thoughtful topics slap you across the face; they are completely refreshing in the dancehall world and work the body and the mind. Exhibition Virtue starts with a line I can never forget: “I know what your momma don’t tell ya… I know what your daddy don’t tell ya…” and goes full-swing in a 4/4 tech-house staggered dancefloor slayer, the best synergy for the dance. MC Zulu interacts with David by playing off the skip of the techno hats, inflecting harmonized choruses throughout the track and the entire release, which synch up with very minimal but highly impactful touches of David’s melody, piano, and sound design. Put Me On Your Guestlist is an instant classic with an 808 bounce-house vibe, addressing club issues in comedic fashion and sampling girls interacting with bouncer cut up that will make anyone smile. MC Zulu’s singing highlights his verse ability to flex with tunes and let the music speak, then make a subtle appearance that is rare in the dancehall world. On the flipside of the party vibes, License To Kill is a dramatic, cinematic tune with large, Arabic-sounding live percussion and slower techno dub. A lyrically well-woven tale about the military, which showcases the lush dub that David Last puts into his more compositional based efforts on this release. Gun shell sounds echo in the background while haunting pads harmonize with MC Zulu as this track goes on. It is the most emotional, expressive, and remarkable tune I’ve heard within this style period. The record finishes up once again with an unmistakable party killer, Caress, which lays down 4/4 vibes and deep, sexual harmonizing from Zulu, sure to drive the girls wild. On first listen, it’s immediately pop dance music that’s so accessible you can’t believe it’s not on the radio. On second listen, you realize David Last has harnessed sounds from the last ten years of techno and meticulously blended them into something 14-year-old kids on the bus could be bouncing to. Now that’s what I call real music. (Kush Arora) |
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| Cyclic Defrost |
Brooklyn-based dub / dancehall producer David Last divides his time between a plethora of creative activities that includes making his own visual artwork, collaborating with Japanese tech-house producer Segeke as Pocket Pet, and performing live with his own instrumental dub groups Solids and Dub-Amp. This second album Musically Massive on Staubgold follows on from his downtempo-oriented 2005 debut The Push Pull on DJ Olive’s TheAgriculture label, and sees Last collaborating with Chicago-based ragga MC Zulu, last seen teaming up with Ghislain Poirier on last year’s ‘Go Ballistic’ single. It’s also a distinctly more extrovert affair than its predecessor, with the twelve tracks here (apparently recorded between Chicago, Brooklyn and Sydney) centering firmly around a bouncing digi-dancehall pulse in the vein of fellow Brookyn-ite Dub Gabriel and the aforementioned Ghislain Poirier.
While there’s certainly plenty of hefty rhythmic snap to be found amidst the buzzing sub-bass bursts and flexing, angular breakbeats of ‘Ghettoblaster’ and ‘Ever Ready’s midtempo ragga-hiphop collision of eerie piano keys and clicking electro rhythms though, Last never really sends things off into the terrorising bass frequencies favoured by those aforementioned peers, preferring instead to build a sense of sheeny synthetic groove. Elsewhere, ‘Exhibition Virtue’ sees more jazzy vibes coming to the foreground, amidst skittering broken programmed rhythms and Zulu’s fluid verbal ragga flow in an offering that flirts with garage / grime influences with inspired results, before ‘Spanish Fly’ gears things straight towards the dancefloor with a techno-Baile Funk hybrid that proves far more interesting than the majority of Major Lazer’s recent uber-hyped effort. ‘Put Me On Your Guest List’ meanwhile sees CX Kidtronik and Maharani adding vocal and production input to a streamlined, dark and bass-heavy blend of sinister machine rhythms and ragga toasting that’s easily one of this album’s biggest standout highlights, detached robotic female backing vocals and all. While ‘Musically Massive’ doesn’t exactly see David Last and Zulu pushing the established electro-dancehall envelope too far, fans of Ghislain Poirier’s similarly electro-bashment tinged bass outings should find much to enjoy here. Chris Downton |
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| Exclaim |
There's no shortage of talented electronic producers collaborating with vocalists to create globally informed, dancehall-inspired beats. Musically Massive works this massive palette of rhythms and sounds with superior songwriting. While the vocal content of many big, bass-y choons often constitutes little more than party hearty window dressing, Zulu contribute reams of thoughtful, poetic lyrics. His commanding baritone flows easily over all the challenging yet banging beats that Last throws at him and sometimes he breaks it up with the sweetly sung backup vocals. He rides rough but he's no cartoon bad boy. Last sounds like he's having a ball, changing up tempos and idioms with great versatility. He hasn't abandoned his techno vocabulary, he's just adapted it to rhythms that owe a debt to early '90s dancehall. The techno-paced groove of "Spanish Fly" modulates several times underneath Zulu's urgent but serpentine vocals. "Hit Parade" starts off like an alien dancehall doo-wop tune but breaks into abrasive synth pads and a distorted break beat while Zulu salutes pirate radio up front in the mix. And yet there's an appealing, upbeat mood to these experiments, lending some occasionally great pop hooks to the disc.
How did the collaboration with David Last come about, was it similar to working with Ghislain Poirier? MC Zulu: It started out as an internet collaboration but halfway through, since David Last already had a deal with Staubgold, we decided to make it official. There's a group of people who have been trading music back and forth and it's really grown into a culture now that's tangible. Same thing with Ghislain Poirier; he did a remix of a song I did with DJ C. I wrote him through MySpace to thank him and he said [badly and hilariously imitating a Quebecois accent], "I have more for you to do." He has a voice that makes me jealous! The ladies love it; they think he should be singing! You have an amazing ability to flow over all kinds of different rhythms. How do you approach a track and what artists have influenced you in this regard? Most of the time, dance music with vocals is just a lot of call and response. It's hard to get people to accept a full song written over a dance track. I'm really heavily influenced by the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, and Woody Guthrie — making music that reaches people somehow. Essentially I'm just trying to be myself. I'm not trying to be super-Jamaican bad man. (Staubgold) |
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| The Push Pull |
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| Pitchfork |
(The Agriculture's) first masterpiece was Nettle's Build A Fort, Set That On Fire, a record that made like Oval and dancehall producers Steely & Cleevie working over a cassette of underground rai hits. Now, they've released their best record yet with David Last's The Push Pull.
Last's sense of rhythm is as developed as any rap, dancehall, broken beat, or dubstep scientist you'd care to throw up. Whereas most post-downtempo electronic music shifts the burden of interest to the melodic/harmonic, Last's swinging beats and liquid metal bass throw all the weight on the rhythm section. This is a funky, funky record. On "Secret Society", a mutant dancehall pattern bumps to static offbeats and a hiccuping vocal that's an integral part of the groove. When Last drops a rattling, chiming melody, it's more rhythmic than simple coloration. "Badlands" filets some microsamples over percolating handclaps, bubbling steel drums, and a one-note bass plummet that'd rattle your teeth at the appropriate volume. There's also a playfulness that takes it out of the city into more unmapped terrain. "Besitos" plucks and weaves like The West-era Matmos. "Posca Kid" pivots on a mournful little accordion melody over a doleful skank, surrounded by blips, blorps, burps, and other IDM onomatopoeia. There's also a faint taste of classic Black Dog running throughout, the evanescent Orientalism of tracks like "Chiba" and Balil's "Nort Route". (This is no bad thing.) Like the "Coolie Dance" and "Egyptian riddims, Last has found a music that sounds urban and folksy, ancient and modern all at once. Play it late at night, and watch how eerily (and beautifully) it synchs up with both the wind in the trees and the guys playing Tupac upstairs at 3 a.m. -Jess Harvell, April 6, 2005 |
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| XLR8R |
My bodiless head floated gently through refreshing, unfamiliar air. I saw Jamaica, China, Java, Tokyo, Venice, Paris... it all meshed into one uncharted terrain, and I didn't know where I was. But I loved it! Brooklyn's David Last blessed me with this multicolored dream on his debut album - psychedelically cartoonish instrumentals awash with blip-hoppin' broken beats and slippery funkydunkyness. Last lures you in with slow-paced dancehall and illbient chaos powered by echoing reverbs, rich basslines, scrunched sounds and quirky melodies. Push Pull is playfully dubby like Lee Perry, charmingly IDM like Plaid, and downright heady in the fashion of labelmates DJ Olive and Lloop.
Sean O'Neal |
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| DE:BUG |
Ich hab nicht die geringste Ahnung wo diese Platte nun schon wieder her kommt, ah, doch, Home of all Homes, Brooklyn. Aber eine so bezaubernd klingelnde Art mit HipHop Riddims dieser Zeit umzugehen und dennoch irgendwie klar aus der Elektronik zu kommen hab ich nun wirklich noch nicht gehs¯rt. Obendrein noch mit Missy Samples die so sympathisch kurz sind, dass sie wirklich mal gut wirken und dann auch noch perfekt produziert bis ins letzte Detail und immer wieder so erfrischend funky, dass wir sofort ein neues Genre ausrufen: Microhip! Das Hop ks¯nnt ihr euch denken. Und wenn diese Platte erst mal die Runde macht, dann ist niemand mehr vor ihr sicher.
(English Translation by Gary Hohenberger and James Heath) I haven't the slightest clue where this disc comes from... oh, yes, that Home of all Homes, Brooklyn. I have yet to hear such a bewitchingly soundful way to handle the Hip Hop Riddims of our time while somehow demonstrating an undeniable origin in Electronica. Missy-like samples so deliciously short that they truly work, and then such perfect production-- right down to the last detail-- yet so refreshingly funky that we can immediately proclaim a new genre: MicroHip! You imagine the Hop. And once this disc hits the circuit, no one will be safe from it." Sascha Koesch, aka DJ Bleed, for DE:BUG Magazine, Berlin |
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| Repellent Zine |
David Last
Badlands (EP) Yeeeaahss! Summer in New York City!! Home of the rooftop and block parties, fire "hosen" shower springs and lovely tings. "Sex in the City" was not just the title - its what you feel and smell in the summer heat. Don't know where all the funky, beautiful people come from all of a sudden, but when it happens its amazing! From Broadway to Fifth Avenue; Central Park to Prospect Park; Soho, East & West Village, Lower East Side and Brooklyn. Eurotrash and Jetset-globetrotters, hip hoppers, rockers, freaks, geeks, New Jerseyians, you name it! Oh please: What would NYC be like without our Puerto Rican Pecans! Or China Town or Harlem!!! Let's not forget what makes this city great - I know some people want to make it whitewashed, College Town USA - but you can't look back after you've had just a little (sweet and sour) taste - Booyaka!! That said I want to big up David Last for making an EP that reminds me of the diversity of the city and the lovely possibilities all these tings bring. Little Davie don recorded the complexity of 21st Century urban funk and sweat, liquids, smells, tastes, kisses and secrets. Fat dub breaks, complex riddims, exotic samples, cut up vocals set on intricate, blunted tapestries. Multi-cultural bombasticism, crispy, clean and digitally rendered, moving tings forward, without a doubt! "Posca Kid" makes the introduction with sonic funk popsicles serving as the rhythmic base. Enter dub echoes, ambient sounds, trumpets and exotic flutes. "Secret Society" is the bomb! If ever there was an exercise in seriously researching the viability of electronic Calypso, here it is and it sure sounds funky! It builds lovely, and you gonna dig when the scatty vocals trip up an already jittery, hiccup-of-a-progression. Most of the other tracks are equally as warm and funk filled, but the last track "Filmic" is completely on some other *ish than the rest of the album, sounding more orchestral and "filmic" with its bass and strings. Something different exhibiting where else this guy is going. OK, if you ain't got the funk, then get out of the trunk, like we say around here: Nicht fur tich!!! But even if you coming with a small town mind you might still dig the sounds on "Badlands." |
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| All Music Guide | It's always nice to encounter an electronica artist who doesn't take himself too seriously, and it's even better to encounter one who does take the idea of musical fun seriously. David Last's weird and funky constructions are deeply informed by a childhood that was filled equally with music and visual art -- he used to draw cartoons while listening to his parents' extensive record collection -- and they tend to evoke complex and cartoony mental images. Take "Besitos," which welds a lurching dancehall rhythm with backwards guitar loops and unidentifiable shreds of vocals, or "Posca Kid," on which squelchy sound effects and a dub-reggae backbeat meet an accordion player at a sidewalk cafe in Paris. "Secret Society" is a fun excursion into twisted hip-hop with a subtly old-school flavor, and the album-closing "Chiki" lopes along innocently for almost two minutes before you realize that the beat has coalesced into a modified, slightly robotic ska groove. Every track is like that. Apologies for the Forrest Gump (the movie) allusion, but this album really is like a box of chocolates; every track is yummy but each in a slightly different way and you never know exactly what you're going to get next. Very highly recommended. | |
| Beta Lounge | Visionary, genre-blending, and sublime...I could probably write fawning adjectives all day to describe David Last's The Push Pull. At once playful, weird, spooky, intricate, loose, deep...wow, there I go again. There is something very spiritual at work within the folds of this LP. Did I mention that it bumps? Did I write about how it manages to take a little something from everywhere and, as so many artists strive to achieve, renders something new? Really. I mean it. Put this CD on, LOUD, and transport your mind to a planet in which everything flows together and apart simultaneously, beautifully. | |
| Other Music |
Thanks to DJ Olive's Agriculture label, New York-based video artist and programmer David Last brings his ethno-dub-electronic (dare I say IDM) fusion to the masses. While we first heard Last's exploration of the digi-dub/dancehall genre with his teaser 12-inch, "Badlands," The Push Pull takes things even further. You'll find similarities to DJ/rupture's Special Gunpowder, but without the vocals; Deadbeat's laptop dub minus the coldness;the sonic palette of grime sans the rave, as well as Prefuse 73's chopped vocals and textures.
Last's polished 'n' distressed digital vocabulary is fully showcased and he breathes some fresh vibes into the scene. He blends live guitar, steel drums, bells and whistles into the mix while also adding an exotica element, as well as some occasional crunchy laptop constructions. Last has a unique sense of sonics and melody that, while based on dancehall, goes way beyond that style. On "Posca Kid," he introduces a Spanish feel over a bouncing rhythm and skanking horn. There are plenty of tracks that'll either heat up an eclectic dancefloor or set the mood for a low-key house party. Recommended. -Daniel Givens |
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| XLR8R | 4) On a rare Friday night awhile back I went to see David Last perform over in Oakland and man! I came out of there with my head swimming... This cat paints quirky, swirlingly beautiful pictures with his music, and at the same time loops and layers imagery to create a visible symphony. Once again theAgriculture proves itself a visionary American label. | |
| Grooves |
On his debut full length, David Last inhabits a bewitching zone that offers the NY-based video artist, illustrator & composer ample room to maneuver. While rooted in dancehall, Last's kaleidoscopic sounds incorporate dub, funk, even jazz... The album isn't entirely new - it includes material from his 12" EPs Posca Kid and Badlands - but its sound is. Moving beyond dancehall's jerky, clipped rhythms, Last peppers his hypnotic tracks with a multitude of exotica... undulating voices, funk bass, trumpet smears, African percussion, flutes, and an array of electronic noises.
Opening with "Besitos," its ponderous theme offset by rollicking hand drums & handclaps, the album scores immediately with the percussive funk of the title track and the noir-themed "Secret Society." ..."Posca Kid" wanders through a jungle of crickets and cicadas, until it's serenaded by a gloriously soaring melodica theme. Equally good is the reggae-tinged buzzing bass funk of "Cat-Silver," especially when it segueways into a trippy Arabian-tinged coda, where voices and instruments blur together. Coupling Eliane Amherd's enchanted vocal musings with resplendent melodica playing in the dancehall dub funk excursion "Makeout Stakeout" proves irresistable too. "Vestigial Limbs," a funereal soundscape of lamb bleats and incantatory yelps affords a change of pace but arrests the flow; zombie inner zones of this type might be better left in David Toop's capable hands. And Chiki, a repetitive dub funk groove of possessed voices and electronic squiggles, amounts to a less than enthralling closer. Such moments are rare, however. For the most part, The Push Pull is a captivating mixture of dancehall grooves, loping funk, laconic hip hop beats, and serpentine melodies that succeeds due to the wealth of imagination that Last brings to it. Ron Schepper |
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| Only Angels Have Wings |
I wish David Last’s The Push Pull could be on during those moments when I am unable to listen to music; time passes beautifully when it’s on. It’s antagonizing enough to get your head bobbing involuntarily while also remaining ambient enough to let you be comfortably focused on something else. All of the sounds on The Push Pull are very interesting and Last constructs them in the funkiest ways possible, but it’s the texture that pleases me the most. I can tell most IDM acts to hit the road if their songs aren’t well textured, intellectual beats be damned. Luckily, here that is not an issue—I can hear the metallic surfaces, the plastics, grainy residues, porcelain pings and light woods. Every sound on The Push Pull has distinct character and that alone keeps the listener intrigued. The fact that they are elements of orchestrated funk is merely a sweet bonus.
There isn’t a whole lot of good IDM arriving in the promo stacks these days so a release like this is refreshing. David Last has the sort of attention to microscopic elements that groups like Oval have been championing since the mid 90’s. With From the Double Gone Chapel Two Lone Swordsmen tried to create a funky record without utilizing the resources that had given them their name, so they resorted to some live drums and guitar. The Push Pull (while remaining entirely electronic and sampled) is funkier than that album could have ever hoped to be (hey, I still like it). Downbeat electronic funk is hard to master. I mean sure, anyone can make it, but only a very small percent of it is actually worth listening to let alone flat out enjoyable. This CD’s greatest achievement is that it gives off just enough interesting funk (with the odd curveball) to keep a night interesting far after it has reached its peak. “Secret Society” is a perfect example of this. With cut up vocal effects and minor (yet melodic) white fuzz the song plays out a micro dancehall beat. Elsewhere there are moments of microhouse (“Cat-Silver”)—with the requisite dub and IDM noises of course. All of this has proven The Push Pull to be the most popular release on theAgriculture label, garnering them the most press and critical acclaim. I hear they are somewhat championing this type of sound and style with all of their artists. I’m reaching for that other disc they sent. - Andrew Iliadis |
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| Moebius Rex | David Last "Makeout Stakeout" - David Last's The Push Pull may be one of the best sonic headrush experiences I've had so far this year, and it's time more people knew about it. Every track is an aural wonderpiece, both loony and lovely in turns, packed tight with mutant percussion, polyrhythmic yelps and squeals, cockeyed arrangements for fantasy orchestras, dubwise production tricks, and on and on and on. It's an alien canteena mixtape, it's cartoon music for cartoon people. Pipe it through a pair of your best headphones, settle back in a comfy chair in a dark room, and journey. "Makeout Stakeout" is perhaps Last's version of space-age bachelor pad lounge, all sexy female moans and slinky beats, and....oooh yeah...a wonderful bit of melodica. | |
| RE:UP |
(excerpt)
The Push-Pull is a refreshing fusion of minimalism and melody, just weird enough to captivate, with the perfect pinches of normality sprinkled in just when you need them. Though it may not grab hold of you right away, given a chance, this record will continue to hold your interest with each listen, and pull you further and further in. -Adam Matar |
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| Dotshop.se | Ghostly dinosaur dub and nutcase dancehall, Asian drummers, barbecue orchestras on a Brooklyn rooftop, fingertip-rhythms and spiderweb production. Play this *loud*. Friends, this is huge! | |
| YRB |
David Last's absorbing instrumentals are reminiscent of something you'd hear on freeform college radio at some random moment. It's the kind of quirky meditative music that can clear a cluttered head and ignite a creatively void one. On Last's full-length debut, The Push Pull, he creates tribal-like rhythms tinged with everything from Asian metal percussion to subtle vocal samples. While not quite dance-floor ready, numbers like "Springset" and "Makeout Stakeout" are certainly stimulating, carrying traces of raga and even a little samba. Last splendidly fuses the sounds of multiple regions. However, unlike some of his fellow instrumentalists, he creates and output that comes across as being more calculated than freestyle. The result of his careful sonic craftmanship is a tranquil experience likely to leave you in deep concentration like those random moments on college radio.
(Max Herman) |
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| Echoplex |
Excerpt from review of performance at BAP, Brooklyn
"...david last followed immediately with a killer extended version of his song “animal hybrids”, which blew away what i heard online. in fact the PA itself was literally blown away, twice. it was probably the heat, or a circuit breaker, but the music was really that powerful. people left after the first power outage, but he filled the room up all over again as the track mutated and kept on going. despite how hot it was, i danced with vigor until it got close to time for stars like fleas to go on." |
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| Audio Harvest |
(excerpt)
Some cuts are straight-ahead abstract sound collages with intelligent use of programmed Afro-Cuban drums, while others bump the funk (like "Cat Silver"). The dubby untertones of tracks like "Posca Kid" really interact with the listener who sports the bassiest headphones -- prepare for auditory treat after auditory treat in this smorgasbord of sounds and rhythms. The tenth track, "Makeout Stakeout" is by-far my favorite...with a rolling bassline that brings to mind dread-headed househeads dancing without cares. It brings together aspects of traditional African drumming styles with the groove of ragga jungle-house....with a bit of Parisian accordion to up the ante on the level of sophistication. The production of every single track is beautiful as is the instrumentation. This seems to be the perfect CD to have in the background at a worthwhile mixer where people attend with the intention of rubbing elbows. It's artsy, but not over the top...best yet, it doesn't take the listener for granted. i love it. The Agriculture label has yet to leave me anything less than amazed on a regular basis. My descriptions of the musical styles are totally contrived and somewhat lame, but check out the label's website or David Last's website to get a sampling of their ultraorganic bass-heavy electrofunky sound. Four stars all the way... -Frank D, Music Director KFSR |
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| Smother | David Last adds a bit of international flavor to each of his tremendous cuts with stops in Southeast Asia, France, and Jamaica. Smelting bleats, bits, and blips for a refreshing taste of IDM-stoked downtempo, “The Push Pull” is the elevator straight up to the heaven of electronica. I haven’t heard a more impressive full-length chill-out album in quite some time. | |
| Tomzuin H |
I found refined rhythms, refrains, organic based sound,
cool programmings...and sharp sensitivity in it. |
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| Staubgold 12" |
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| Minlove.net |
The first part of a 2x12" series on Staubgold provides four highly distinct remixes contributed by Jan Jelinek (~Scape), Aoki Takamasa (Progressive Form/Fat Cat), Nôze (Circus Company) and David Last (theAgriculture). The result is a marvelous blend of rhythm and space covered with diffused grooves that is as varied and eclectic as the mix of involved artists. Kammerflimmer Kollektief's "Absencen" album - also released on Staubgold in May this year - forms the basis for this remix compilation which is filled with timeless instrumental, almost jazzlike themes often reduced to sparse acoustic elements.
David Last's remix of "Matt" turns the stately tempo of the original into an interweaving athmosphere of suspense and lively acoustic rhythmic patterns; coming together as a marvelous dynamic whole with an ethnic touch. Aoki's interpretation of "Nach dem Regen" (after the rain) strips down the original to it's bare bones while creating dense and inspiring moments full of emotive warmth and lush melancholy. The "Lichterloh Remix" by Nôze blends slightly house-influenced grooves with refreshing saxophone themes that are turning into a truly catchy dance-peace after a sudden breakpoint in the second half; while keeping it's own charm and subtlety. The closing track by Jelinek rounds out this delightful mini-compilation with a floating almost spherical piece of electronica, melting shifting drones with loose and fluid instrumental themes. |
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| Live Shows |
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| Disquiet |
LIVE DUB MP3: If ever a music was destined to live on well past its peak of popularity, that music was dub. Its lingering presence, which swells every few years, resembles nothing so much as the sweltering echoes that are the music's aural stock in trade. Dub has, in fact, become an echo of itself, not so much a meta-genre as a genre that has attained quasi-immortality by seeping into the background. Amorphous by nature, dub is unlikely to ever become a major commercial enterprise, certainly not a major commercial-recording enterprise, though perhaps a live one (or perhaps some heady subscription channel in a future market of domestic background streams). The music, formless by nature, a haze of sounds and beats, resists packaging.
Despite which challenges, dub has more than its share of virtuosos, not just the Caribbean originators, but the eager landlocked adopters, folks like Bill Laswell, Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Sound System, Raz Mesinai and, of late, David Last, who must be one of the foremost practitioners of dub going. There's a live set on his website, davidlast.net, an hour-long tumble of styles that dates from early this year, and it is absolutely stellar. It moves from groovy slo-mo rituals with Middle Eastern accents, through periods of retro reggae, through European street music, its bass lines slinking like sleepy, bloated eels through thick waters, its rhythms offset with casual counterpoint. Last is as comfortable with moments of meticulous glitch as he is with rapturous orchestral extravagance. (He also has a peculiar sense of trippy, trippy being an important part of dub's appeal; in this case, it involves a computerized voice admonishing you for missing a big meeting with your boss.) And this particular set peaks at just the right time, the melodica piercing the ceiling amid raucous laughter for a brief spell, just before the recording fades. MP3 available HERE. |
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| Earplug |
David Last, Live at the Bunker (MP3)
New Yorker David Last draws funny pictures, creates unnerving video, and records warm, pulsing, minimal techno for labels like the Agriculture, Staubgold, and WaveTek. This recording captures him live at NYC techno hotspot the Bunker, shrouding cowbells in dub delay and brandishing bright arpeggios like laurel wreaths. |
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| Badlands EP |
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| Mixmaster Morris |
I just got a record today which has blown my mind
DAVID LAST Badlands EP its not often you hear something REALLY original its from those new york nutters theAgriculture rapidly becoming one of my favorite labels ,,,what can i say? its bloody brilliant |
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| Grooves |
Riding a hazy line between hip-hop, ragga, and dub, Badlands is purely instrumental, but begs to be toasted over. The syncopation of said Jamaican styles is immediately recognizable, but Last's sounds are too lucid, too clear-cut to succumb completely to the influence of the leafy green. "Secret Societies"(sic) is the most overtly dancehall-sounding of the four tracks - bouncy, esoteric, and cheekily sinister. Little spurts of static and human voice pepper the zombie-controlled nightscape while somewhere a witch's cauldron boils uncontrollably. Keeping a considerably lower profile, the title track is a jangley affair, bottom-heavy like a basset hound.
The B-sides rock even harder, especially "Cat-Silver," a Neptunes-in-Kingston bouncer that features a syncopated guitar along with loads of distorted bass. The final cut is where things get a little dizzy, a little hotter, a little slower - an echoplexed voice calls out wordlessly, and Lee Perry's ghost slinks slowly back into endless fits of chuckling. John H. DeGroot |
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| Fader Magazine |
Pitched down to minus 6 for my tastes, this lead track from his debut Badlands EP is a miracle of IDM programming that will slip right into your avant-dancehall set like a welcome mickey. The basic riddim is hell of funky, and the journeying melody really leads cool places, like Aphex or Squarepusher back in the day day. Expect much more tweaked club destruction from this undercard contender.
-Leftenant (Sound Ink) |
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| DE:BUG | Man braucht gar nicht weiter als auf die Named der Remixer du zehen, und schon wei* man, dass Staubgold hier mit den Remixen des Absencen Albums Killer-Re-mixe bekommt. David Last (dessen wunderbare Tracks auf Agriculture eine wirkliche Entdeckung waren) beginnt mit einem reduziert vollen, abstrakt unterkühlt, deep sligen Remix von "Matt", der sich ze Dub ungefär so verhält wie Bollywood zu Cyberjaya. Falls irgendwer versteht was ich meine. Gro*es Kino für alle, die gerne einen Grund haben wollen, an die Zukunft von Dub zu glauben. Aoki Takamasas Mix kontert auf frech digital zerstückelte Art mit einem Track, den man vage noch als Klick-Hop bezeichnen könnte, aber mindestens ebeso Jazz ist, qie pure Lust an der vertrackten Astraktion digital unergründlich generativen Funks. Noze - Für alle, die seine letzten EPs verpasst haben - sind unschlagbar melancholisch trockene Jazzminimalisten der freakigsten Art und genau das wird man auch an ihrem Remix von "lichterloh" lieben. Allein schon dieser gehauchte Rhythmus is unschlagabar und das James-White-Saxophon auch. Jan Jelinek sucht mit Besen und magischer Gelassenheit in den Fehlschaltungen der tragischen Teife eines atmend endlosen Tracks, der mir die Sprache verschlägt. So soll das sein. Unglaublich gute EP. | |
| Jetset Records | Glitchy DANCEHALL DUB on AGRICULTURE. Get tons of sense of humor from it. This is the answer from NY to SHIRO THE GOODMAN. It is DUB BREAKS with scratches, funky basslines and strange & mellow melodies. Dead unique. | |
| CISCO Records |
(Badly translated by Sherlock for maximum verbal abstraction)
With abstract - ???? you are proud of explosive popularity, from "Agriculture" after a long time New! David Last (new member?) With the current work fog beam expectation is not betrayed! ??? where you can be moved the influence of ??? by perhaps the abstract track/truck maintains the originality and quality only of this label. Click house ??? ??? B-2 considerably with fresh sound the recommendation!" |
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| Lazarus Remix |
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| jazzysport.com |
(Translation by DaDaKingZ)
Maybe you've heard rumors of the new "Wavetech" single that sounds like "house music by an invasion of ants" The version in question is the "Pocket Pet Remix" on side B. The effect is obvious when played on a dancefloor. The drum has a kick with a bottom that pierces through the body, and finely cut rythmical rim shots. The feel-good synth-bass causes the body to move and peaks with some scintillating synth work. While constructed of sounds with edges, it's "clear" enough to be played in the morning hours as well. How does this balance work? This is highly recommended!! |
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