Saturday, October 12, 2013

Samo Sound Boy - "Your Love" EP



​"If you can describe the music you're making with one or two genre names, chances are it's probably not that interesting."

Los Angeles native Samo Sound Boy is a producer and co-owner of the electronic label Body High. Just recently, he released his debut EP "Your Love". Consistent with his above quote, this EP is genre-less. Samo Sound Boy combines elements of downtempo, ambient, acid-house, techno, and dubstep to create a very lush dance record.
The first song Your Love is an incredible dance tune. But it isn't the acid synths or the lush chord progressions or even the shattering four-to-the-floor bass kick that make it truly unique and experimental. The way that Samo Sound Boy effectively chops up and warps vocal samples is the element that actually brings the power and emotion. The tune as a whole is structured very well. It is slow enough and repetitive enough to a point which is almost meditative but Samo Sound Boy pulls the listener away from complete introspection at many points with the intense glitchy acid synths that remind us of old 80's Phuture tunes and fills us with an ominous but confident vibe.

The next song on the EP is a remix of Your Love by experimental hip-hop genius Shlohmo; and Shlohmo takes this song to whole different level. He starts the song off with an ambient, spacey instrument and slowly fills the space with Samo Sound Boy's acid synths and chopped up vocal samples but slowly we can tell that the tune is increasing in volume and pace, as if leading us to a bass-heavy dance drop. Shlohmo completely changes pace at the drop, stripping away any house elements that Samo Sound Boy developed, turning the song into only a dark fuzzy bass-line complemented with signature Shlohmo percussion sounds and Samo Sound Boy's intense vocal samples. Shlohmo effectively turned the well produced repetitive acid-house tune into an experimental and intense tune that fluctuates between minimal and maximal electronica. By doing this he keeps the ominous vibe that Samo Sound Boy sets forth but instead of minimizing introspection, he intensifies it, effectively personifying the somber and emotion.

The last song The Ride is very similar to Your Love. Very acid housey and synth heavy. The main difference between the two though is that Your Love is more emotional while The Ride is slower and meditative. The tune seems to simulate a long car ride on a single highway where focusing on the road is in itself stimuli which can induce mind states of trance and introspection. Unlike the very sensual dark nature of the other two songs, The Ride pushes less emotion, creating a mind-state which is groundless and free.

This EP as a whole is one of the best releases that has come out of the experimental house scene. It contains the uniqueness of Samo Sound Boy's character while also effectively creating the groundwork for a more emotional path in the house scene today. I recommend any fan of electronic music to listen to the whole EP.

Check out the video for Your Love below.

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