Jasper James - Crypto / These Are the Beats

  • Dramatic tech house on the Scottish artist's new label.
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  • Jasper James' rise as an artist has been much less reliant on releasing records than many of his peers. He came up as part of the Glasgow club community and built his reputation as a party-starting DJ in the vein of Jackmaster, his good friend, and the Sub Club's Harri, his dad. Since releasing his first record on Optimo Trax in 2014, we've had just two more 12-inches from James, records that were pretty different in mood but both seemingly produced with his DJ sets firmly in mind. That's very much the case with Crypto / These Are the Beats, the first release on his new label, Mitchell Street Records. The title track is the pick. It's a synth-driven tech house cut that applies a suitable amount of drama as it rises and falls across seven and a half minutes, although the white noise blasts maybe weren't needed. Its success is that the parts lock into a groove in loyal service to the melody. "These Are The Beats" has a harder time achieving this coherency. It's powered by a Dance Mania-style bassline that never quite gels with the elements around it, making for a forgettable blend. Like most of what James has released so far, Crypto is solid, if not spectacular. He could sustain the momentum of his DJ career without releasing a record again, but there's enough here to suggest it's worth doing so anyway.
  • Tracklist
      A Crypto B These Are The Beats
RA