In the same way that reruns of ESPN’s SportsCenter can go on and on in the early hours of the morning, so too can electronic instrumentals (or instrumentals of any genre, for that matter) bore us to death. The amazingly repetitive nature of many can be unbearable, and excruciatingly so when an artist decides not to alter the dynamic of any part of the track. Aside from bringing down the overall quality of the art itself, the sanity-sucking monotony makes us want to bang our heads against any and all walls available, so it’salways appreciated when a track or two comes around that’s got some spice on top of its oft-bland origins. With Shagabond's “Niju”, we’re afforded such a stimulating escape, and seeing that it rides the tail of his first-ever, HD-featured effort, “Milk/Cookies“, it appears he’s a name that’ll make it past the crop of aforementioned monotony. Now, this isn’t at all to say that the new track isn’t without its beat-driven roots, or ongoing pulsation of synths and instrumentations; rather, that they alter themselves throughout, adding layers right when you’re about to lose it (as we so often do). To be sure, there are about five or six stark sonic transitions throughout the “galaxy hop” Shagabond provides, which is to say, about five or six more transitions that we’re accustomed to seeing on a daily basis, so we’re able to listen through the entire four minutes without listening fatigue of any kind. In fact, “Niju” is so groovy that we think we’ll have it on a few times, just to let it all seep slowly in. You should do the same.
Shagabond