Far-Out Beats
Raleigh Moncrief – »Combed Over Chrome EP« (Obstructive Vibrations)
E.T. getting weededed? Starship Enterprise floating above a field of ripely Marihuana shrubs? All this hand drawn and arranged in flashy colour in front of a space backdrop? The art on Raleigh Moncrief’s enigmatic “Combed Over Chrome EP” did not made me hit the download button immediately but from the first noises I heard I was sure: this one is a doozie. And eventually, the artwork ain’t too bad.
Ah c’mon! I can’t find out ANYTHING about neither “Raleigh Moncrief” nor the remixers (?) “Chandeliers” and “Dash!”. Obstructive Vibrations, please! Moncrief is from Cali, is he? Everything I got is the private Myspace of designer Brandon Kalarney and these five tunes…
Well. “Combed Over Chrome” is massive. Spliffed-out and dirty. Fresh and experimental, yet catchy and compatible with any Hip Hop and Dubstep dancefloor. Astro Nautico, well-informed source for Bay Area Rap as usual, says “Hudson Mohawke and Matthew David had a baby and named him Raleigh Moncrief”, and that’s a good comparison indeed.
All five tracks are dope. While “Combed Over Chrome” features heavy beats and glittering synth arpreggios, “Goldrush (Chandeliers Remix)” focuses on IDM-ish melodies and baaad ass bass. With “Similies”, Raleigh Moncrief fuses wobble-wobble Dubstep with an Old School Hip Hop beat and Mohawkesque synth leads. Timeless. Eventually, “Quiet Please” closes the chromo dance with a deep ‘n’ dirty piece of solanaceous Dubstep that equally sounds L.A. and London. OMG what a BOMB!