Maybe it’s because the latter half of my college years were soundtracked by Labor Days, Float and Music by Cavelight, but I still consider Blockhead better than almost all of the new barrage of instrumental beatmakers who cultivate semi-anonymous public images to mask (presumably) boring personalities. Like, I know people are trying to get me to care about Evian Christ, but his name is Evian Christ and none of his beats remotely swing like “Never Forget Your Token.”Also, his name is Evian Christ.
Blockhead draws strength from his cynicism. The beats are emotive without lapsing into fake Moby gospel or late-period 9th Wonder tissue paper soul. They’re ominous without getting into the I Cut Myself Witch House racket. They’ve evolved beyond the base influences of trip hop, dollar bin records, and 90s boom-bap. The only artists that can still thrive after a decade are the ones capable of calling bullshit on themselves. That’s how you evolve. Block has a new album out on April 30th on Ninja Tune. The guy’s got a good blog too. Until Evian Christ starts doing better riffs on the Fuck/Marry/Kill game, I’m riding for the guy who didn’t name himself after the official drink of Gerard Depardieu.
Tracks below the jump.
Download:
MP3: Blockhead ft. Baby Dayliner – “Beyond Reach”
Stream:
