DJ Nate - Da Trak Genious

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4...according to our Brian on Thu 09 Sep, 2010.

This guy is producing some pretty fun tunage. As Ant introduced him with the teaser 12" a few weeks back, Chicago native Nathan Clark has been knocking out this strange hybrid style of looped sample-heavy bass music for half a decade. Most of these tunes have been on the internet or on limited run CDrs and in turn eagerly adopted by a new generation of street kids who soak up these strange pitched up rhythms & hyper repetition to forge mad-fast dance maneuvers that verge on James Brown stepping barefoot on white hot coals territory. So Jukin' or footworking is keeping these kids out of bother for a bit but does the music have much merit away from that scene? If the oft-maddening samples were removed, or reduced in frequency it would make for extra pleasurable listening - a very stark merging of R'n'B, house, garage & post-dubstep flavas with some sharp percussive elements, understated synth slivers & occasional excursions into more monging bass territory. This is rather minimal music that recalls the advent of Grime, in keeping with the ethos "the only way to go forward is to strip it all back to the base elements". Worth a punt if you're keen on keeping up with the ever-evolving world of electronic music....most intriguing!

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* ‘Da Trak Genious’ is Planet Mu’s compilation of the Footwork tracks of DJ Nate, born Nathan Clark, a 20 year old artist who grew up in the westside of Chicago. He started making Footwork tracks 5 years ago, more recently turning his hand to Hip hop and R'n'B, and the album is an archive compilation of his productions.

* This is Nate’s first ever worldwide album release. It’s essentially a selection of tracks that have come out on small edition cdrs and tracks posted on youtube and imeem. This is how Planet Mu first heard his music, which has gathered a small but enthusiastic band of followers and fans who have been itching to hear more from Nate and know more about the genre.

* Footwork tracks are instrumental tracks made for Footwurking, or Jukin'; a dance style that’s local to Chicago that kids use to let off steam in group competitions with each other. It’s a distant relative of the competitive hip hop style of up-rocking but with frantic foot moves that have their roots in Jazz dancing.

* The Footwork sound has its roots in Chicago House especially the accelerated ‘Ghetto’ house, and the influence and speed of the pioneering Ghetto house label 'Dance Mania' is clear: the tough sentiments and hip hop influence is all there, but the fast linear hypnotic 4x4 sound of those records has been re-calibrated and given an ultra-syncopated treatment to test dancers, the samples and repeated lines are pitch adjusted up and down giving the music a strange hypnotic feel.

* These tracks have a unique drama and a pressure that is unique to Footwork but reminiscent of the edited drum syncopation of jungle and also hip hop cutting in DJ battles.

* DJ Nate uses the basic palette of samples from pop and hip hop, pitched, layered and triggered into unusual edits, often edging into distortion, usually with a simple repeated phrase like ‘hatas our motivation’ used to pump up the dancers. This hypnotizing effect, combined with sparse 808 drum patterns, often with busy fills, relentless triplets and off-kilter accents, is used to create very different variations within his sound.

* Tracks like ‘Back Up Kid’ and ‘You’re Gonna Love Me' work with modern r'n'b samples, while others like ‘FootowurkHomicide’ and ‘Fade Da Black Trak’ seem to echo their contemporary British sound of Grime. ‘Go Hard’, ‘Let The Beat Build’ and ‘Free’ reach back to earlier soul music, crossing half-time drums with slow, looped soul licks, while ‘A+ Mayhem’ pitch up or chipmunk emo tracks to hysterical effect. The mood, skill and ADD emotion across the album is difficult to get into first but after some listens the character and voice of DJ Nate’s unique productions comes across.

TRACKLIST:

- 3xLP: A: BACK UP KID, U AIN'T WORKIN WIT NUTHIN, FOOTWURK HOMICIDE, TURN BACK TIME B:HATAS OUR MOTIVATIONCALL ME WHEN YOU'RE SOBER, MY HEART, YOU'RE GONNA LUV ME, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE E: BELOW ZERO, FADE DA BLACKTRAK HALLOWEEN WURKS, GA GA LORD R.I.P. D: 3 PEAT, LET ME SHOW U GIRL, MAY BE SUM DAY, GO HARD E: A+ MAYHEM,LET DA BEAT BUILD, SEXUAL HEALING, HE AIN'T BOUT IT F: FREE, LIL' MAMA BAD AS HELL, GIVE DAT MAN ROOM, POETRY-

CD: 1. BACK UP KID 2. U AIN'T WORKIN WIT NUTHIN 3. FOOTWURK HOMICIDE 4. TURN BACK TIME 5. HATAS OURMOTIVATION 6. CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE SOBER 7. MY HEART 8. YOU'RE GONNA LUV ME 9. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE 10. BELOWZERO 11. FADE DA BLACK TRAK 12. HALLOWEEN WURKS 13. GA GA LORD R.I.P. 14. 3 PEAT 15. LET ME SHOW U GIRL 16. MAYBE SUM DAY 17. GO HARD 18 A+ MAYHEM 19. LET DA BEAT BUILD 20. SEXUAL HEALING 21. HE AIN'T BOUT IT 22. FREE 23.LIL' MAMA BAD AS HELL 24. GIVE DAT MAN ROOM 25. POETRY

5...according to kamikaze.

I think I must have given this album enough listens by now to merit a place in my top ten of the year, as it's getting to that time of year again where list-season approaches and everything we've enjoyed throughout the course of the year must be ranked in accordance with quality vs sustainability vs new ground trodden vs longevity vs whatever else it is that stops us from filing records away. And this record fares pretty well when marked up against the above criteria. Well addictive, and ultra-tricky to keep your feet still to.

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!