Hello My Name Is…
What’s in a name? Sometimes a name means everything. At other times a name is nothing but a distraction, an ironic or iconic prop used by an artist to cause critics confusion, and keep them at head-scratching bay. And though this veneer has its place in many facets of the art world, nowhere is it more utilized than the often times veiled world of electronic music. This veil is first evidenced by the moniker that the electronic musician chooses to bestow on him or herself. Does this moniker merely fit a personality? Has it been bestowed on one by an associative authority? Or was it chosen to represent a larger whole, a clue which will serve as a key to unlock doors that haven’t even been created yet?
These are the types of questions one is faced with when confronting the newest eight song EP ///I\II\\\\ (pronounced ///I\II\\\\) from New York-based producer Drew Lustman, nom de guerre FaltyDL. The ///I\II\\\\ EP’s eight tracks are remixes from FaltyDL’s most recent release, the seventeen-track heavy In the Wild. In the tradition of many remix albums, ///I\II\\\\ features guest remixes by µ-Ziq, Brrd and E+E, as well as a few original experimental tracks from Lustman not found on In the Wild.
Lustman starts ///I\II\\\\ off himself with one elongated, combined version of two under-two-minute-long tracks from In the Wild, “Greater Antilles Part 1” and its counterpart “Greater Antilles Part 2.” This combination creates “Greater Antilles VIP” which for all its ambience, never quite justifies its elevated status.
µ-Ziq takes a crack at the next track, “Rolling.” Under µ-Ziq’s tutelage the song becomes unrecognizable from Lustman’s original, which loops a quiet jazz trumpet and piano riff and adds flecks of what sounds like a hushed conversation. µ-Ziq chooses strings and softly rippling synths, and loops in a hazy unintelligible computerized voice and a mid-tempo drum and bass beat. Quite the opposite effect is heard on “Frontin.” In the hands of Lustman, the original plays like an acid-laced message, mixing single sparkling piano keys, relaxed bass beats and high-hat heavy cymbals with a gangsta-rap inspired vocal loop that repeats, “Frontin on some bullshit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” Brrd’s version sounds like a recording of “Greater Antilles VIP” being played on a stereo in an empty gymnasium and then played back. It seems tracks such as these were Lustman’s intentions behind ///I\II\\\\, which at every turn questions the nature of titles and their significance.
On the EP’s final three tracks Lustman takes back the controls, waging a few sound experiments of his own. Beginning with “GA 2 Tape outcome.z130583.” Another aggressively ambient offering, the previously recorded music was re-recorded through a four-track and a VHS recorder. The final two fraternal tracks “M ///I\II\\\\” and “P ///I\II\\\\,” employ soft and sad piano and here and there, a few accidental bits of everyday electronica, as though Lustman hit the sample switch accidentally. Despite ///I\II\\\\’s strange title, not much else seems out of place when placed beside Lustman’s previous works. Only the question “What does it all mean?” still remains unanswered.
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