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Smallfish
Geskia’s music has an authentic and heartfelt electronica flavour,
the likes of which you hear all too rarely these days. Along with labels
like Expanding, Cactus Island, Amp Bit If Go and others Flau has been
quietly putting out ace CDs with a variety of styles, but with a more
than definite nod to the crunchy sound that I really like. Geskia delivers
a full selection of the kind of melodic, slightly funky downbeat electronic
music that will be a breath of fresh air to fans of the aforementioned
labels as well as Merck (which I always believe there’s a strong hint
of in the music). Elements of hip hop as well as the classic manipulated
sounds and beats make for an engaging and relaxed listen throughout
and it feels like stepping back in time, yet remaining firmly in the
‘now’ as well. A cunning blend then and with value added by popping
in some remixes by Caural, Werk’s Lukid and the excellent Bracken as
well this really is a cracking little album. Good stuff indeed.
Textura
A generous EP with thirteen tracks (three of them remixes) spread
across forty-three minutes, Geskia's Eclipse 323 improves upon the Tokyo-based
producer's debut album Silent 77 by refining its psychedelic boom-bap
style. Though the tracks are still as densely packed as before, the
new material seems to possess a stronger sense of structural coherence
and, as such, the wealth of detail doesn't undermine the tracks by splintering
them into unrelated parts. That that doesn't happen can also be attributed
to the hip-hop beats that form the foundation of most songs; without
them in place, the material conceivably could collapse into fragments.
In his ten originals, Geskia soaks synthetic keyboard melodies and beats
in a glutinous bath of voice fragments, instrument samples, and digital
dirt, resulting in settings teeming with detail. Though many cuts could
be characterized as mutli-layered, glitch-laden instrumental head-nod
of the melancholy persuasion (“Innerroots,” “Day Life Structure”), Geskia
also makes room for an occasional sunkissed ambient setting (“Sunset
Line Texture,” “Silhouetteque”).The future-funk tracks “Experimental
Goddes” [sic] and “Inside Out Night” suggest affinities between Geskia
and provocateurs such as Flying Lotus and Prefuse 73 (circa Everything
She Touched Turned Ampexian). On the remix front, Bracken (Hood's Chris
Adams) tightens up Geskia's sound even further in a deliciously bumping
makeover of “Second Coming,” the outcome so fine one ponders what a
fuller Geskia-Bracken collaboration might produce. Caural (Chocolate
Industries) climbs aboard for a predictably polished handling of “Right
Lights,” while London-based Lukid gives “3days Trial” a grime-coated
treatment not unlike something one might hear from Flying Lotus. Whether
their interests gravitates more towards Geskia or guest contributors,
instrumental hip-hop devotees should find lots worth digging into here.
Chroniques électroniques
Jeune producteur et break-beat maker japonais, Geskia nous avait
gratifié d'un superbe premier album en mai 2008, Silent 77. Fidèle à
l'excellent et trop méconnu label Flau, Geskia est également apparu
sur une compil' de Symbolic Interaction. Tout son talent s'est également
étalé avec Vongaku, obscur side project qu'il conduit avec ses compères
Chori et Paranel.
Eclipse 323 est un disque de glitch-hop downtempo d'excellent acabit.
L'utilisation du laptop, l'approche des breaks, des cuts ainsi que les
liquides et fines mélodies font penser à la superbe école Flying Lotus,
en certes plus spatial.
Geskia aurait pu se contenter de ça, le hip-hop "futuriste"
et "sci-fi" connaissant actuellement de belles heures de gloire.
Avec beaucoup de maîtrise technique et ne souffrant jamais d'excès dans
la superposition, ce japonais parvient aisément à insérer de cristallines
sonorités acoustiques et des phases superbement lugubres qui rappellent
le trip-hop du début des 90's.
Ideal Copy (digne de Flying Lotus), Drawing Dawing et Inside Out Nights
en sont les meilleurs exemples.
Un seul et minuscule regret : les tracks sont parfois trop courts.
Non content de signer un des meilleurs disques du genre cette année,
Geskia s'entoure de la crème abstraite et underground sur les trois
remixs qui concluent le disque. Bracken, Caural, mais surtout l'exceptionnel
Lukid y vont de leur jolie contribution.
Les charts ne devraient plus tarder à fourmiller de ce hip-hop cybernétique
et racé. Face à cette inéluctable indigestion potentielle, il sera nécessaire
de faire un tri. Dans une ombre relative, Geskia fait assurément partie
des fers de lance du genre, en compagnie de Lukid, Dorian Concept et
Flying Lotus. Un "must-have", tout simplement.
Norman Records
Geskia had a CD out on Flau a while back. I can't remember hearing
it but I think it was one of those clicky twinkly style Japanese electronica
affairs. 'Eclipse 323' is the name of their/ his/ her brand new opus
and it's a 13 track beast including remixes by Caural, Lukid and local
superstar Bracken. The album is kind of funky electronica which veers
from yr melodic electronica to some more awkward hip hop inspired beaty
moments like Flying Lotus, Clark, Funkstorung etc. In fact some of it
reminds me a lot of what labels like Schematic were doing a while back.
There's some obvious Boards of Canada-isms in there as well which I'm
quite enjoying. I've heard it twice today and it's doing it for me.
I might have to dig out his previous album and spin its face off.
Boomkat
Tokyo electronica maestros Geskia return with an album's worth
of new material, bolstered by additional remix tracks from Bracken (aka
Chris Adams of Hood), Lukid and Caural. Eclipse 323 might be viewed as
a midway point between glitchy, post-IDM micro-beats and the more contemporary,
harder hitting sounds of current generation Warp artists like Clark, Flying
Lotus and Hudson Mohawke. In production terms this is hugely enjoyable,
full of complex, flowing beat designs and the level of detail is astonishing,
from the edited-to-death 'Innerroots' to the luscious, Four Tet-like 'Silhouetteque'.
Ace.
i slept in these clothes
Geskia is a Japanese breakbeat wizard, creating organic, lush,
beautifully woven abstract soundscapes that is eerily similar to acts
like Flying Lotus. Incredibly solid and groundbreaking music. Extremely
refined music; very detailed and very polished. A diamond in a desert
of sand.
This album comes highly recommended from yours truly. If you like Clark
(as in Chris Clark on Warp), you will like this as well.
In fact, Geskia has been covered on this blog before and remains one of
Clothes HQ‘s favorite artists and deservedly so. This album is out now
on Flau Records (based in Japan). Just listen to it, I’m 110% sure you’ll
enjoy this album as much as I have.
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