Artist: Spare
Release: Slacking EP
Label: Well Rounded Records (Well Rounded individual)
Format: 5 track 12”/digi
Release date: TBC
This EP sees Spare’s first release on Well Rounded Records. You
could be forgiven for not having heard of Spare before as the artist is
relatively elusive beyond a hunt on Soundcloud or Myspace. The release delivers
a varied and highly original take on the current garage, breakbeat and dubstep
tinged sounds pervading dance music. Spare is from Nottinghamshire, but the
record label is based in Brighton and has delivered a pretty mixed bag itself,
it often delivers an adventurous and experimental take on modern dance music,
putting out releases that are clearly influenced by house, techno and garage,
but that are refreshingly original and genre bridging in a music scene that can
at times be formulaic and unimaginative.
This release
certainly sticks to this ethos and delivers five tracks with highly distinctive
flavours, to the extent that they could all happily belong in different
sub-genres of dance music. The first track, “Slacking”, delivers a mood
reminiscent of a dubstep track, but a little less defined. It has a muffled,
thunderous beat and a creepy, subtle synth line to accompany it. It doesn’t go
anywhere too quickly, as the track name would suggest, but it is an innovative
take on a dubstep rhythm whilst delivering something that is much less
definable. “This Weekend” again holds true to its name and delivers what I’d
call a garage track. It has a really strong two step beat that breaks down into
a heavy four-four section and delivers a garage feel with modern production
values. This one is definitely a track to work the club dance floors.
“Makin’
Em Seen” brings a bit of a surprise, it’s a much more techy track and delivers
a hard, complex electro beat. The beat is relentless and over-laid with a
driving vocal sample, it’s certainly very different from the other tracks.
“Kankle” is another great garagey track, with a shuffled feel and a massive
bass line-definitely one for all the bass junkies out there. It’s well put
together and provides another strong dance floor track. “Spare Room Offense”
has a really strong beat, displaying cut up breaks and synth stabs reminiscent
of an old skool hardcore track. Unfortunately, the track’s production lacks the
cohesion of the others’ on this release, and it definitely isn’t my favourite.
Having said this, it continues to experiment with genres and this is always
welcome.
Dance music and, to a lesser extent, music in
general does well either to create definition or to entirely escape definition
through its pure innovation. This release does the latter and provides a
welcome challenge to those wishing to pigeon hole it. Spare should be applauded
for avoiding sticking to one genre by giving an innovative mixture of styles,
whilst also providing some really fresh, dancable beats. I hope to hear more
from this artist in the near future.
Originally written for Now Then Magazine:
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