- Blog house titan Crookers returns from hiatus on Pretty Weird with help from Mr. Oizo, Nikki Nair and DJ ADHD.
- My brother was a freshman at UC Santa Barbara in 2009. When I visited, we'd often hear Kid Cudi's melancholy ode to the "lonely stoner," "Day 'N' Nite," drift from backpack speakers as some longboarder cruised to the beach. But as soon as the sun set, every (and I mean every) house bordering the Isla Vista cliffs would play Crookers' electroclash remix at some point. The rework's ubiquity was only eclipsed by its garish aesthetics— the breakbeat-car-alarm combo still haunts me—and it signaled that blog house had fully ascended to the mainstream. As if to underline this point, Crookers put out their debut LP the following year with cameos from the likes of Pitbull and will.i.am.
Since those halcyon highs, Crookers have gone fairly quiet. Andrea Fratangelo left the group in 2012 and Francesco Barbaglia has put out a smattering of singles and remixes, but it's been fairly barebones. Safe to say I was a bit shook when I heard that Barbaglia was ending the drought with an EP on Chloe Robinson's Pretty Weird. Robinson's label is always on-point (especially after her own adrenaline-fueled debut), and while the cynic in me saw this as a bit of a clickbait gimmick, it's actually a canny play on Robinson's part. I Hope This Finds You Well ditches Barbaglia's proto-EDM grandeur, but keeps the playful, glitchy percussion and slanted melodies of the best bloghouse.
The lead track "Johnny Depp" is the one that must have caught Robinson's ear. A dry, syncopated snare skips underneath building arpeggios that climax into stabs of sawtooth bass alongside some cute voice notes from none other than Mr. Oizo. It's big, but it's off-kilter enough that no one is going to use it to soundtrack one of those "our world now" rave memes. If "Johnny Depp" keeps the Crookers formula intact, "They Comin'" is a new look. It's a surprisingly subtle (if somewhat forgettable) lo-fi house track replete with dusty samples.
That leaves the Nikki Nair and DJ ADHD remix of "Johnny Depp." I'd like to imagine both producers receiving the remix request in their inbox, scratching their heads for a second, and then just going for it. Bleeping crescendos crowd the stereo field, a gargantuan kick drum slips out of time every few bars, while sub bass pulses tear at the song's fabric. It's so fun, it's enough to get even the most skeptical chin-stroker excited for the fledgling blog house revival.
Tracklist01. Johnny Depp feat. Mr. Oizo
02. They Comin'
03. Johnny Depp feat. Mr. Oizo (Nikki Nair + DJ ADHD Remix)