Es-K - ReCollection

Burlington-based beatmaker Es-K releases music at a blinding clip without compromising quality. So it’s no surprise that following his spellbinding Continuance LP from February he’s back with another full-length album ReCollection, this time on Cold Busted. 24 beats, each named after a specific element on the Periodic Table, await listeners who crack this one open. The Es-K stamp of excellence is all over this album, but it’s less ambitious from a songwriting standpoint than recent work like Continuance or Koan. Instead of lofty and epic, these beats are more introspective and trance-inducing.

There’s a bit of mysticism in all of Es-K’s music, even those hard-hitters that sound like they’re coming straight out of a subway station, off a city stoop, or up from the hot asphalt of urban America itself. ReCollection includes a few of those bangers, but mostly it’s full of pocket grooves that lead the listener deep into a hypnotic state. Here, there’s time and space to think. The imagination is able to fill its lungs and exhale fully. Novel thoughts or perhaps bits of wisdom bubble up out of the ether - “essential knowledge”, which is what Es-K stands for.

One of our favorite cuts is “Crbn”, (“Carbon”) which features Es-K’s signature style of bass line. He has a technique whereby he coats the bass synthesizer with this electronic twang then lets it wobble, like a true space cowboy. It’s a small audio effect with a big payoff. Whenever this sound appears, one can be sure Es-K is hitting the right notes with it and playing a sidewalk-stomping melody. Then there’s “Cblt” (“Cobalt”). I’m not even sure what Cobalt looks like, but the word conjures images of hard grey. The track, too, with a stoic string sample covered in reverb and compression, evokes this same hard grey. Znc (“Zinc”) may take the cake on ReCollection, though, on the sheer strength of its main sample. Then again, this is the type of record one can sink into at first, then walk away from only to come back and find new gems.

Cold Busted is one of the foremost beat labels worldwide, and they and E-K are no strangers to one another. Indeed, Es-K has realized over a dozen times with the label, including 12 (yes 12) installments of his Spontaneous Grooves series. ReCollection is its lack of fidelity. It sounds more sample-based than programmed, another factor that distinguishes it from Es-K’s recent work, which is very crisp and hi-fi. Yet in the context of his prior work with Cold Busted, this new LP is right at home. If these comparisons are of no value to the reader, then we sincerely apologize and strongly recommend peeping Es-K’s back catalog so this jargon can obtain some meaning. Es-K will be performing in Madrid on April 17, and in Boston on May 4.

FOLLOW Es-K:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Spotify / Facebook   /   Twitter

Lo-Fi Sundays 036 - Es-K

Beats from Es-K bump on a higher plane. This beatmaker, Robert Ronci from Burlington, Vermont by way of Kansas City, Missouri, is truly a sampling extraordinaire and a master hip-hop composer. He works frequently with rap vocalists and he's represented on some of the world's best beat labels. After years of writing instrumentals for rappers and producing compilation series, he just released his debut LP - a stunning, mystical work called Koan that transcends beats music entirely while remaining rooted within it. 

Es-K is on the official roster at NINETOFIVE and Cold Busted, two labels that provide beatmakers all over the world with a sturdy platform from which to offer their music. He also releases with Bucktown USA based in Brooklyn and Millennium Jazz Music based in London. In other words, Es-K is a real continental fellow. Bucktown is where one can find his latest vocal pairing, an album titled Rebirth of the Slickest with VVS Verbal. 

As a masterful sampler, Es-K knows how to dig, cut and amplify samples to create the classic sound of the past. Check out "Release (Let it Go)" for a neck-breaking example. At the same time, his beats forecast the sound of the future. His compositions stretch into new territory away from boom-bap and into lo-fi and quasi-electronic realms. One can catch the faint edge of synthesizers in his music. Check out "Gotaway" from his Beats, Etc. series on Bandcamp for an example. There you'll also find 24 installations of the Spontaneous Groove series on Cold Busted. Each installation includes approximately 10 beats. Do the math and you realize Es-K has an archive absolutely overflowing with knocks. This music is not available on Soundcloud. In many ways, it exceeds in sophistication and quality what is available from Es-K on Soundcloud save for Koan. If you enjoy this week's curated playlist, the rest of the iceberg can be found on Es-K's Bandcamp, linked below. 

Notwithstanding this catalog covering hundreds of songs over four or five years, this debut LP Koan is the real head-turner. Koan creates a supreme mood and curates an atmosphere of urban shamanism. A koan is a riddle or paradox that when meditated upon can spark enlightenment. Indeed this LP is an aural representation of this process. A cross-section of cuts from the album are included in this week's playlist, but we encourage folks to listen to the release in its entirety. Unlike some beats work, it's not transient. It has staying power. It's true composition. Fans of Emancipator, older Gramatik, and Uyama Hiroto will find some familiar territory here, but truly Es-K is carving out sonic space all his own with Koan. 

Es-K elevates the art form of beatmaking. While we're eager to hear what he'll offer next on the heels of this debut LP, we admittedly have some catching up to do on his back catalog. 

FOLLOW Es-K:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Facebook   /   Twitter