- Sinister scores for Jamaican folklore on the latest from Equiknoxx Music.
- For centuries, Afro-Caribbean folktales have been a reliable device for frightening wayward children into obedience. Jamaican folklore in particular is rich with tales of restless and conniving spirits called duppies, stories of which elders pass down to younger generations. Don't stray off into gullies, don't wander at night, the tales warn—you might encounter unfriendly forces along the way.
Equiknoxx's Time Cow and longtime collaborator Exile Di Brave draw inspiration from these harrowing stories in Folklore, an EP that focuses on two of the wider known Jamaican folktale characters: the Blackheart Man and the fearsome Rolling Calf. The brooding and sinister "Blackheart Man" centers Exile Di Brave's croaky sermons about the companionless titular character, his vocals echoing and typhooning above machine-like dub. "Rolling Calf" dials up the horror elements with end-times synths, whimpering horns and skewed rhythms (an Equiknoxx trademark). When it comes to storytelling, Time Cow and Exile Di Brave are a riveting match. Like the stories that inspired the record, Folklore leaves listeners haunted in its wake.
Tracklist01. Blackheart Man
02. Rolling Calf
03. Time Cow - Monster Lobster
04. Time Cow - Circumcised Airplanes