Yoni Mayraz Meets Scientist (PPK /LA Reserve) [Beats]
- The Slow Music Movement
- 3 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Yoni Mayraz is no stranger to TSMM's blog and playlists, and after honing his keyboard, production and eyes on the road jazz fusion skills in plain sight for the last six years, he seems to be ageing like a fine wine, and I don't see any dust settling yet on this restless producer.
With his new single he's only gone and teamed up with Scientist - fast becoming a blog mainstay, to reinterpret a couple of choice singles from last year's matter of factly entitled, Dogs Bark Babies Cry album.
Wisely he gave Hopetown Brown a couple of the albums downtempo, more hip hop indebted cuts to take back to the lab and feed through the echo chamber. "Blue Ambulance" was originally a laid back chiller with the sort of keyboard hooks that lo-fi producers would give their left arm for, and to his credit Scientist, with the benefit of age and experience, judges a light touch is best, and I agree - if it ain't broke don't fix it, so he settles on a bit of main refrain echo and, more unusually, also on the drums to give this jazz infused beat a somewhat 90's downtempo dub infused vibe. Job done.
Things get a bit trickier on, "Uneven ties" due to the original's more free-flowing nature - the initial hip hop beat approach soon morphed into skittering drums and low tempo improv' realms, but Scientist rises nicely to the challenge with some deft filtering, and by dubbing the catchiest live moments, before mirroring the originals second half exploits by looping the live drum and bass passage and getting busy, to somewhat lysergic effect, on the mixing board.
It doesn't happen enough, there really should be more jazz and dub infused hip hop beats coming through the speakers, so hats off to Mayraz and Mr. Brown for making it happen.
Playlist Companion
Find Mayraz & Scientist in the Slow Hop Playlist.