New Track: Jas Shaw's 'I Dream Of Meanie' Hides A Dark Secret
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Tristan Young @talltristan
If you’re in the mood for something akin to Simian Mobile Disco B sides, you’re in all kinds of luck. Jas Shaw, one half of SMD has announced an upcoming collection of unreleased material in the near future. The release, Exquisite Cops (cool name), includes the just dropped track ‘I Dream Of Meanie’ (less cool) and it’s fantastic. Like some kind of cross between the cerebral atmospherics of Unpatterns and the more overtly sci fi oriented Welcome To Sideways, the song splices muted rave electronica with a lush cinematic score. Hints of influence from the likes of Caribou and Four Tet also emerge, although one could simply chalk that up to a cross pollination of tactics. The track calmly builds from a thumping beat, first with rippling thralls of fidgety lasers that cage in a euphoric wave form synth. The contrast of sedate and opaque synth clouds and the ratcheting adrenaline of the drum sequencers is terrific. With precisely timed iterations, the drum beat trips and doubles up on itself, coinciding with the addition of increasingly dense and prominent layers of galloping bass. The tactile elements start to falter and dismantle, leaving the central mist of synth to slightly augment. It doesn’t take long for the noir techno rhythm to kick back in but this time it can’t contain the synth core. By now it’s mutated into an ominous storm of moribund sounds. It gives a technically minded experience a sudden jolt of theatrical dread and malice, like something bursting free from the confines of a banal user interface. It sounds a little like ‘Lions’ by Four Tet, which is to say it’s awesome. The nebulous synth is more naturalistic and creates for some striking interplay between the more pragmatic and utilitarian parts of the song. Shaw says there is much more to come beyond ‘I Dream Of Meanie” so feel free to stay excited for the foreseeable future.