Phaseone’s Five Favorite Records of 2009
October 21st, 2009
Like all good producers, phaseone’s remixes are reinterpretations. Raekwon removed from his concrete criminology raps and placed afloat an aqueous ambient sample from Blind Man’s Colour. Bon Iver’s wood-cutter hymns wrapped inside El-P’s apocalyptic abandoned building aesthetic. Rich Boy over some greasy synth-funk. Panda Bear given some snapping Southern-sounding drums. YoungbloodZ drawling over a bass-heavy beat that sounds straight out of Bristol.
More than just a Girl Talk with taste, St. Louis’ best producer (according to the Riverfront Times) reflects the omniverous appetites of his generation about as well as anyone working. Raised on hip-hop but equally eager to talk about Washed Out, Dam-Funk, or Joker, if blogs have taken notice of 24-year old Andrew Jernigan, it’s because he effectively synthesizes these disparate sounds into something singular. It’s possible that it’s all a matter of vanity–after all, everyone wants to hear their tastes affirmed. But ultimately, the beats bang and that’s enough to suspect that phaseone is just getting started.
