- When dance music invites us to imagine a dystopia, as Brassfoot does on Realms, it can feel routine. But amid the dampness and toxicity of these four gloomy soundscapes are pleasant surprises and extraordinary moments. Brassfoot's distortion-swamped tracks rummage through cut-up '50s jazz ("Lost In The Sauce"), B-movie grime ("Black Pow Wow") and pagan reverie ("Retune And Runaway"), as well as the familiar lo-fi hallmarks of VHS-ripped dialogue and 16-bit synths. Floating like random debris in a polluted stream, the dislocated samples move Realms towards the kind of magical realism in the video for Apron15's "Dogenzaka," where Brassfoot wanders into Tokyo via a shop in London.
Equally surreal, "Retune And Runaway"'s harsh industrial grind sounds like an old machine powered by lead and witchcraft. A flute rises like a column of smoke, emitting an acrid ecstasy. Brassfoot's connection to the dance floor is tenuous on "Lost In The Sauce" and "Black Pow Wow." The former is a sample-heavy ode to Paul's Boutique, while the spectral "Black Pow Wow" chews over "good wine, good weed and good vibes." On a record where auditory hallucinations are the norm (save for the unfocused "Unlucky Charms"), Brassfoot's vocals help tether Realms to reality, even as his lyrics spell out a commitment to escaping it.
TracklistA1 Unlucky Charms
A2 Lost In The Sauce
B1 Retune & Runaway
B2 Black Pow Wow