- Chaos In The CBD take a sample-heavy approach to house, crafting melodies and vivid textures that make their tracks feel lifelike. Many of the duo's records have a trumpet on them somewhere, and they're big on smoky Rhodes keys that stab at syncopated intervals over layers of heavily swung percussion. But they also have a deeper side, a taste for subtleties of rhythm and groove rather than the melodies that grab more immediate attention. They've recently been exploring this side more often, and on Zona Del Silencio, their third record of 2017, we hear some of their deepest cuts yet.
Whether they're in the sentimental mode of "Midnight In Peckham," or the more skeletal music on this EP, one element always stands out: the drums. The duo have a light touch when it comes to programming percussion, and they don't shy away from the congas, claves and shakers that other producers avoid. "Zona Del Silencio" pairs that organic drum palette with a paranoid ambience, which makes for an interesting mix of the celebratory and the sinister. Between the percussion and the tough bassline, they get a wicked groove going. "Unsound Mind" is more stripped back, with a seductive conga rhythm complemented by swirling pads and powerful sub-bass. Thanks to its painstaking details and impressive pacing, it manages to shift subtly for over ten minutes without running out of steam.
TracklistA Zona Del Silencio
B Unsound Mind