Blawan is no stranger to channelling moments of mayhem on the dance floor. His 2012 single “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?” (the rare track to get played by both Jeff Mills and Skrillex) flipped a Fugees sample into what sounds like an axe murderer’s anguished confession. But Dismantled Into Juice is among Blawan’s most disorienting works yet. To begin with, the beats, while still plenty heavy, have shed all associations with the reassuring regularity of four-on-the-floor. They thrash and lurch, flailing and lunging; considered alongside the “juice” of the title, the percussion suggests drum machines being tossed into industrial-strength blenders until their circuits liquify. The synths are just as mangled. Lead melodies explode in a slurry of contrasting tones and timbres; the low end crackles as though the bass bins were on fire. Still, it’s never purely chaos for chaos’ sake: The title track rides a slippery groove that’s hypnotic and strangely funky, and on “You Can Build Me”, featured vocalist Monstera Black evokes the wistful tones of the Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser. Dream pop might be the last thing anyone would associate with Blawan, but on Dismantled Into Juice, unexpected elements yield one-of-a-kind results.
- 2011
Featured On
- Rrose
- Skee Mask
- Surgeon
- Ahmet Sisman, Adiel, Vnnn., Ben Sims, D.Dan, James Ruskin, Julia Govor, Kink, Lady Starlight, Lokier, Luke Slater, Megan Leber, Out Of Place Artefacts, Perc, Setaoc Mass, Sterac & Tommy Four Seven