DJ’S SOUND GETS IN SYNC WITH NATURE
Second release carries forward spiritual, environmental storyline
DJ Forest Walker, a.k.a. Vancouver’s Jordan McQuaig, is most certainly a West Coast electronic producer. The sound he conjures on the second release under his Project Arbutus moniker does indeed seem like something anyone could enjoy listening to while walking through a green coastal rainforest.
For music that is crafted digitally, the results are deeply resonant with the natural world.
Here are five things to know about Project Arbutus: Transcend.
1 Part two of a concept
The first Project Arbutus release in 2017 was a 14-track work that was equally concerned with a narrative line that covered quantum physics — songs included Event Horizon and Mass Illusion — and, perhaps, nightfall (Dusk, Shadows, Inferno). Transcend seems to carry forward with spiritual and environmental awareness added to the storyline in tracks such as the trappy Timelapse, slow droning Gaia and the neo-dub of Patterns.
2 All about the drums
This guy really works on his drum sounds. Space and timing make the tune Patterns — one of the best on the album — hit you right in the ears. A tight vocal loop just gets the slightest background clicks and glitches before — whack — a perfectly placed hand clap snaps the songs into the next “verse.” There are no lyrics. Awesome.
3 Singles
There aren’t too many ways for an instrumental electronic act not working in the EDM sphere to get music played. Too bad, because Datastream is hooky enough to get a single mix. It’s funky in an R&B way and has a slinky sax line that you can hum along with.
4 Arbutus Resonance
OK, the divine vibrations of trees is a pretty hippy trippy idea. But in the morning after a night of heavy dancing, rising to the sunrise with this title track coming off a massive sound system could indeed have you digging the morning woods.
5 Album art
Not enough gets said about album art anymore. But DJ Forest Walker is two for two as far as visually appealing album covers. In these days when merch sales make more money than the music, having T-shirt quality goods matters. His are.
ALSO LISTENING TO:
Catherine Bent: Ideal (Catherinebent.com): One of the best Brazilian recordings you’ll hear this year comes from an American cellist who has toured with everyone from Cirque du Soleil to A.R. Rahman and assorted Broadway musicals. Bent loves the choro style and has devoted plenty of time to mastering the lilting grooves and melodic complexity of the form. Her debut solo album, recorded in Rio de Janeiro, showcases her driving bow work against spectacular backing from a crew of Brazil’s top-tier players. Not just straight ahead either, this has some very cool improvisational flights not usually associated with this South American string band style.
Cub: Brave New Waves (Artoffact Records): A dozen tunes from Vancouver’s very own proponents of “cuddle core” recorded in May 1993, at the height of the trio of Lisa Marr, Robynn Iwata and Neko Case. Where so much music from the period has aged about as well as a bruised banana, the Cub sound jumps out at you with its simple melodies and West Coast bop. It’s amazing someone hasn’t covered Cast A Shadow by now and turned it into a mega-hit. The chorus hook is that perfect combo of melancholy and inward smile.
DMA’S: For Now (Infectious/ BMG): For whatever reason, Australia seems to be undergoing a massive Madchester revival. From the downtempo grooves of All India Radio to The Presets’ choppy pop, it’s rocking Down Under like its 1990 again. Fine by me, when the result is a song as full-on Stone Roses as the title track or pure Lightning Seeds like chiming Brit Pop of Warsaw. Where the band really shows its strength isn’t the rockers, though, it’s the strum-along midtempo songs such as Lazy Love or In the Air. Strong vocals and harmonies that should take off worldwide. Molly Tigre: Molly Tigre ( Very
Special Recordings): A horndriven take on fusing the hip ’70s grooves of the Addis Ababa underground, the galloping rock of sub- Saharan Africa and some Berber blues that works. And works really well. Saxophonist Mitch Marcus is all over the eight tracks, which really present the music in a different style to the better known six-string heavy version. But perhaps the biggest surprise on an altogether surprising album is the spectacular drumming from Joey Abba, formerly of the Ramones. The grooves he drops in with percussionist Ibrahima Kolipe Camara (from the national Dance Company of Guinea, Kakande) are lockstep tight and always moving. Summer patio party perfection.