Original writen for Sonic Router
Kromestar has been around for so damn long now and he has one hell of a back catalogue to match, the guy is prolific. Barely a week or two goes by without a new Kromestar beat being heard somewhere he’s got 12” coming out of his ears and only last year he dropped an album with Hatcha. This time it’s just his sound.
My Sound is a soulful slab of dubstep that’s perfect for the dance floor and home listening. You can really hear the Anti-Social Entertainment vibes all the way through this album; there are echoes of Silkie and Quest in places with their deep, warm meditative soul styles. Plastic horn stabs, big bass and skipping beats are the order of the day.
There really are some fantastic tracks on here one of the first standouts for me is the mad off-kilter bleep skipper ‘System Log’ I can’t get enough of it. The deep bass rumbles along as the electronic bleeps and bloops glide over the top and give the track a really bouncy feel.
My Sound really surprised me, as I’m not usually one for a Kromestar beat he does so many different styles within the genre that a lot of it had either not moved me or completely passed me by. This album really does showcase his talents so well though; it’s everything I want to hear from Kromestar.
Tracks like ‘Poltergeist’ and ‘Pass The Light’ could have easily been released on a label like Deep Medi they just have that dreamy heads down, blessed out feel to them. Oh plus ‘Poltergeist’ sounds a bit like Silkie’s last Egyptian style skanker and ‘Pass The Light’ Mala like.
For some reason a lot of these tracks, ‘Go Away’ especially remind me of DJ Shadow’s early work, I think it’s the soulful samples and dreamy soundscapes that do it. As Kromestar is far from hip-hop, there are just echoes of things like, ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’ and other sublime cuts from Entroducing.
If I had one criticism of this album it would be that some of it sounds a little samey after a while, like the clattering beats are mostly in a half step esq style a lot of the time and I like stuff to be a bit more rhythmically inventive. It fits though and doesn’t take to much away from the tracks. It’s also what kind of makes it flow so well as an album instead of a collection of songs and singles as so many dance albums are.
The tracks are so subtle with a mellow and hazy vibe to them you feel like your either deep in the dance with the lights low as you gently swagger to the bass or you feel like your on a sun drenched beach some place hot just feeling the flow.
There is a real Balearic tech house vibe to some of this stuff; to my ears anyway. It makes me want to grab a bus cruse past DMZ and FWD>> lure the lot of them into the back with Red Stripe and Rizzla’s then ship everyone off to Ibiza and take over the place with deep bass and pure vibes.
My Sound has a nice dubstep sound to it, like a traditional older sound it hasn’t got that aggravated wobble step thing going on or that techno infused tracky thing going on. There isn’t that southern hip-hop boom beat either, it’s just smooth, soul infused dub. It already sounds timeless and classic.
Kromestar’s My Sound really is a wicked album and one that everyone who grabs it will no doubt take a different track as their favourite. He’s done well here and I bet he’s got another million tracks done since. Kromestar, it’s your time.
My Sound is a soulful slab of dubstep that’s perfect for the dance floor and home listening. You can really hear the Anti-Social Entertainment vibes all the way through this album; there are echoes of Silkie and Quest in places with their deep, warm meditative soul styles. Plastic horn stabs, big bass and skipping beats are the order of the day.
There really are some fantastic tracks on here one of the first standouts for me is the mad off-kilter bleep skipper ‘System Log’ I can’t get enough of it. The deep bass rumbles along as the electronic bleeps and bloops glide over the top and give the track a really bouncy feel.
My Sound really surprised me, as I’m not usually one for a Kromestar beat he does so many different styles within the genre that a lot of it had either not moved me or completely passed me by. This album really does showcase his talents so well though; it’s everything I want to hear from Kromestar.
Tracks like ‘Poltergeist’ and ‘Pass The Light’ could have easily been released on a label like Deep Medi they just have that dreamy heads down, blessed out feel to them. Oh plus ‘Poltergeist’ sounds a bit like Silkie’s last Egyptian style skanker and ‘Pass The Light’ Mala like.
For some reason a lot of these tracks, ‘Go Away’ especially remind me of DJ Shadow’s early work, I think it’s the soulful samples and dreamy soundscapes that do it. As Kromestar is far from hip-hop, there are just echoes of things like, ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’ and other sublime cuts from Entroducing.
If I had one criticism of this album it would be that some of it sounds a little samey after a while, like the clattering beats are mostly in a half step esq style a lot of the time and I like stuff to be a bit more rhythmically inventive. It fits though and doesn’t take to much away from the tracks. It’s also what kind of makes it flow so well as an album instead of a collection of songs and singles as so many dance albums are.
The tracks are so subtle with a mellow and hazy vibe to them you feel like your either deep in the dance with the lights low as you gently swagger to the bass or you feel like your on a sun drenched beach some place hot just feeling the flow.
There is a real Balearic tech house vibe to some of this stuff; to my ears anyway. It makes me want to grab a bus cruse past DMZ and FWD>> lure the lot of them into the back with Red Stripe and Rizzla’s then ship everyone off to Ibiza and take over the place with deep bass and pure vibes.
My Sound has a nice dubstep sound to it, like a traditional older sound it hasn’t got that aggravated wobble step thing going on or that techno infused tracky thing going on. There isn’t that southern hip-hop boom beat either, it’s just smooth, soul infused dub. It already sounds timeless and classic.
Kromestar’s My Sound really is a wicked album and one that everyone who grabs it will no doubt take a different track as their favourite. He’s done well here and I bet he’s got another million tracks done since. Kromestar, it’s your time.
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2 comments:
amen to that!.. couldn't of put it better. locks you in, works it's magic.. it's dreamy, creative and totally captivating. anyone that kicks out such a massive and varied amount of quality tunes must be struggling with some heavy demons. i say struggle away! it works and bless' my soul.
simply the best.
sounds old, feels old. sounds good, feels good
his sound!
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