Garrett David - Octagon Blues

  • Share
  • smartbar resident Garrett David seems intent on connecting each of his records to a space. His debut 12-inch placed listeners firmly at the Chicago club's weekly queer party, Queen!; with Adam Rowe, as Bell Boys, we're made to wonder what kind of place the Hotel Garma might be. More recently, David and Rowe asked, Now That We Are Here, Where Are We? On Octagon Blues, we're given the "Healing Channel" to consider, and whatever form this track describes is a pleasant one. The music is primarily two beaming chords rocking back and forth with consonant pads, and a slightly broken beat arrives late and leaves early. It has an air of a ceremonial procession about it, but without any overbearing emotional intent, functioning as more of a fertile ambience. "Power Up" uses similar timbres for what sounds like a lost Prescription track, and the curious "Remedy" eases the EP's move from pumping energy to somberness. And then there's the octagon. The title cut begins familiarly enough: a basic rhythm with foreboding chords fading into the mix. But once the bass arrives and starts interacting with the melody, it's clear that there's something refreshingly off about the tune. The discrete bass tones seem plain enough on their own, but played in quick succession and blended with corresponding chirps of melody, they appear to be constantly ascending like a Shepard tone. A friend called this track "wet," and another likened it to the sound of waves crashing. I thought of moving water viewed from above: entirely recognisable but too complex to perceive all at once. It's a fitting type of confusion to feel on the dance floor.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Octagon Blues A2 Power Up B1 Remedy B2 Healing Channel
RA