Premiere: Chants – “U Had Rhythm”

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been lucky to proffer up our debut compilation, Heterotopia, and disseminate it to all of you. We’ve also been joined by Apothecary Compositions to release a cassette version of the compilation, a somewhat arcane pursuit in the modern day, but an endeavor that has added physical depth and a collectors item sheen to the whole process. When we made the decision to release Heterotopia on cassette, we reached out to two artists, Piri Piri and Chants, who were unable to contribute to the original tape for several reasons. Earlier this week, we brought you Piri Piri’s contriubtion, the Gqom-inspired “Low Earth Orbit”, and today we have Chants’ churning “U Had Rhythm”. While largely peddling in sumptuous, sample-heavy hip hop modifications, Chants takes a strong right turn turn towards industrial clubland on “U Had Rhythm”, drafting up an excuse to eschew melody and revel in the madness of frantic, yet spatially aware percussion. While the Wisconsite leaves little to no room to breath in between the crashing, reverb-heavy kicks and cyclical, generator-like sub frequencies, there isn’t a single moment where “U Had Rhythm” feels overbearing. Instead, the track takes on a protean quality, settling into an established snare pattern for several bars before tossing it to the wind and reestablishing a new groove. As physical a track as they come.

We still have a few copies of the Heterotopia cassette available in the Apothecary web store, but they won’t be around for long. With your cassette, you’ll receive exclusive downloads of “Low Earth Orbit” and “U Had Rhythm” and alternative art work from Jesse Treece.