A fresh batch of four tracks from Blawan brim with blown out basslines and amp-slashing distortion.
When Blues guitarists began experimenting with amplification in the 1940’s and 1950’s, they noticed their tone became overdriven or “distorted” when cranking the gain on tube-driven amps. Although distortion was an unintentional consequence of playing loudly, as the Blues grew in popularity, this extra oomph was necessary to be heard in larger, more crowded venues (especially over other instruments like the drums). Fuzz is another form of distortion that emerged around this time, created by heavily clipping a signal to produce a warm, thick, and buzzing or “fuzzy” sound.
While originally the result of technical limitations and faulty equipment, guitarists in the 1960’s and early 1970’s quickly caught on to the powerful and expressive potential of fuzz, thus beginning effects pedal manufacturing. Beyond the Blues, fuzz has become a sonic staple and is almost inseparable from genres like psychedelic rock, heavy metal, shoegaze, grunge, industrial, noise, and to some extent—Techno.
Fast forward to 2024, and there is something utterly fuzzy about Blawan’s third EP on XL recordings, “BouQ”. Right down to the wooly, pink-streaked artwork and visualizer. Despite the gleeful cover art, make no mistake, there is nothing sheepish about the sounds on this release. Blawan (stage name for Jamie Roberts) is known for his maximalist modular mayhem, frenetic freeform performances as Karenn with long-term collaborator Pariah, their sludge-y hardcore punk side project Persher, and co-curation of numerous mind-numbing releases on their label, VOAM.
An unlikely influence on Blawan’s productions is perhaps one of the most polarizing figures in dance music: Skrillex. What started out as more of a situationship when Skrillex remixed “Why They Hide Their Bodies Under my Garage” without Blawan’s permission, eventually became a certified bromance when, much to internet ire, Blawan invited Skrillex to play a b2b with him at the Dutch festival, Draaimolen. Some cried foul or thought it was a shitpost at first, yet in reality the two artists share a love of Techno, UK bass, heavy distortion, and OTT (over-the-top) compression, but they approach production from opposite ends along the dance music continuum.
Perhaps a keen awareness of his place in this sonic spectrum has sharpened Blawan’s sense of creativity, because “BouQ” seems to be the second in a series of fuzzed-out releases that started with his excellent “Dismantled Into Juice” EP also released on XL. It is probably safe to say the title of the new EP is an acknowledgment of excessiveness; “beaucoup” is the French word for a lot, many, much, or an abundance of.
Picking up where he left off on the last release, Blawan masterfully demonstrates how distortion beyond a certain threshold turns sounds from sharp and piercing to soft and fuzzy. Despite the tendency for distortion to make things sound hazy and washed out, the tracks on “BouQ” are so soaked with saturated, they’re beyond fuzzy—they’re almost dripping, gurgling, and hissing from immense pressure built up within that no known sound system can contain.
Eerie arps, unhinged synths, and an uncanny vocal sample from Chantal Saroldi don the intro of opener “NPCs Making Hot Dinner,” until they are slowly pummeled into oblivion by Blawan’s crushing percussion. The second track and standout single, “Fires,” almost sounds like Blawan trying his hand at Skrillex’s signature sampling style: chopping, re-pitching, and catchy phrasing, all on top of snappy drums and woozy pads. By far the most “accessible” track on the EP, “Fires” has clear crossover appeal for almost all fans along the Blawan to Skrillex spectrum. Broken beats are heavily favored versus 4-to-the-floor—another clear tie to the producer’s UK club roots and a more subtle nod to the broken speaker sound throughout the EP.
“Done Eclipse” is unhinged and undulating, diving deep into the swampy and sub-y muck. The eponymous closer, “BouQ,” boasts the biggest and most blown out beat on the whole EP, with bubbly pumps of chords bursting above the churning modular maelstrom that hint of of LuckyMe label honcho Hudson Mohawke—or perhaps more poignantly, the gone-too-soon Goddess of Exuberant Electronica, SOPHIE.
Although overall this EP is a leftfield leaning release, sneaking some of these tracks into a set would destroy on the dancefloor in some situations.
Beware: “BouQ”—like Blawan—is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
—Alex Dahm
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