- '90s UK garage from 2021 Brazil.
- Years before taking the name CESRV, Cesar Pierri lived the dream in a rock band, touring Brazil and making a name for himself in the hardcore scene. But after less than a year he called it a day, and turned his attention to a different hardcore, the dance floor kind. Producing for Brazilian grime and drill acts, Pierri has already shown an affinity for UK sounds, and his new EP, Soundbwoy, is a direct tribute to mid-'90s UK dance music. On this five-track EP, he tackles tough UK garage with a razor-sharp touch.
From Amen breaks and eskibeats to rave sirens and MC samples, CESRV takes bits and bobs of UK dance music and puts them together like puzzle pieces. The opening track, "Finesse," kicks in with a chord stab that reminds me of Inner City's "Big Fun." But it takes no more than four bars for a gnarly vocal sample to appear, taking the track down a road of crunchy snares, echoing hi-hats and syncopated kick drums, a rollicking arrangement that holds together in spite of itself. It's the same on "I Kno," a speed garage exercise with a brief blast of breakbeats.
CESRV sounds best when he references the rougher side of UK garage, touching on the sounds that would evolve into grime and dubstep. The eerie strings of "Jungletek" and the wobbling buzz of "Sirens" are the highlights, getting their message across with clever melodies and gut-punching sub-bass instead of words. But he's still good with a sample, closing the EP with "Soundbwoy Champion," which features samples from Jamaican MCs and The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."
The pastiche nature of "Soundbwoy Champion" also highlights the risk of this kind of heart-on-sleeve homage. Some of the EP's tracks might have made the cut on a late-'90s Tuff Jam compilation, which is both a compliment and a criticism. But what Soundbwoy may lack in originality, it makes up for in execution and feeling. Pierri didn't come up during the heyday of pirate radio and UK garage, but from the way he expresses himself on this EP, you might be fooled into thinking otherwise.
Tracklist01. Finesse
02. I Kno
03. Jungletek
04. Sirens
05. Soundbwoy Champion