The Boardwalk Beats of Mono/Poly
Bakersfield is Buck Owens and Merle Haggard territory. A dust-choked, sun-split farm town of about 300,000 people. Geographically, it is roughly 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Culturally, it is about 10,000. If you look hard enough, you can find 10 gallon-hats, spurs, rodeos, and most terrifying of all, vast hordes of people who pre-ordered Sarah Palin’s book. The most famous band to emerge from Bakersfield in the last 20 years is Korn. Not only would you not expect to find one of the brightest lights of wonky/dubstep/beat-culture in Bakersfield, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything vaguely hip-hop. Unless you count that time that Korn had Ice Cube on their album. We won’t count that.
But in the ever-expanding beat galaxy, few talents are more promising than Mono/Poly, the Flying Lotus, Gas Lamp Killer, and Mary Anne Hobbs-endorsed prodigy from the bread-basket badlands of the San Joaquin Valley. Perhaps more than any of his peers, the Dilla influence is most salient in Mono/Poly’s cosmic crunk. This isn’t the soft-hearted, organicism of James Yancey’s Soulquarian side, but the gelid galactic alter ego that popped in the early part of this decade. Cold cavernous spaces, eerie schizophrenic synths, and drums harder than Acme anvils–thus redeeming Bakersfield for producing Prussian Blue. The only downside here is that the guy has the most un-Googleable name since The The.
Download:
MP3: Mono/Poly-”Beatles Bitch”
MP3: Mono/Poly-”Into From”
ZIP: The Experimental Show (4/3/09) with Mono/Poly, Ras G, and Nosaj Thing (Left-Click)
Stumble It!
October 6th, 2009 at 7:33 am
I’m glad to see that my daily search for any kind of music that tweaks my neurons is being recognized. I’m taking credit for introducing POW to this little gem from the west.
holler at ya girl
October 6th, 2009 at 8:32 am
that “Beatles Bitch” tune is the best thing i’ve heard in a little while. there’s some Morodor in that synth.
thanks for posting this.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am
This is true. Liz deserves credit for this find. And for inventing the electric tie rack.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
First off: love the tracks. And now, a rant:
I’m alternately thrilled and concerned by the Dub-Step/Wonky/Purple/Low End Theory material you’ve been posting. On one hand, this is without a doubt some of the freshest music that’s come out this year and I’m proud to say that this site may well cover it best.
On the other, I find myself wishing there was more effort put into the songwriting and not just the sub-bass that my puny headphones will never pick up. The reason Flying Lotus is miles ahead of the curve imo is that he did more than just make beats, he crafted an ALBUM full of texture and movement and did more to bridge the gap between Shadow and Dilla than anyone else has. Not that the scene has to go all melodic, these beats are perfect as is and are SCREAMING for emcees to jump on them. The Glitch Mob’s “Artsy” remix stands out to me because it feels fully realised from start to finish, I want to hear MORE tracks like that, preferably with Nipsey Hustle, Blu, Fashawn, The New Boys and other LA emcees stepping up to the challenging material that these guys are putting out.
In all fairness, working with rappers can be an absolutely detestable experience so I don’t blame these guys. Plus it’s not like it’s the only scene that’s concentrated more on mood/production than songwriting this year that could benefit from some front-men/women (Ahem: glo-fi)
Rant over.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
err.. Why don’t you try mixing tracks, or lay an a capella to add your own ‘texture & movement’?
October 6th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Well, there is this.
http://mediacontender.com/2009/09/09/dubstep-la-embrace-the-renaissance-vol-1/
I didn’t listen because I’d prefer to hear these beats raw. Excluding Blu from the list above, I don’t know how much I’d want to hear those guys spitting over a Dubstep/wonky/whatever beat. If that’s what they’re listening to, that’s awesome, but putting New Boyz over Skream or what have you strikes me as pretty gimmicky. And I say this as a fan of both artists.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
New Boyz over Skream sounds gimmicky when you put it like that, but not if there’s a genuine intention to collaborate. They’re already rapping over sparse drum machines, it’s not a huge leap. Honestly the onus should be on the emcees though, these producers are doing fine on their own and are deservedly getting a ton of attention, meanwhile most rappers can’t get a decent beat to save their lives and won’t try something new unless Kanye West does it first.
thanks for the comp, will check it out ASAP
October 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Someone had to invent the electric tie rack.