Review: Electronic soul innovator Liv.e followed up her acclaimed Girl In The Half Pearl with PAST FUTUR.e last year, and it's now dropping on vinyl. The surprise seven-track project was made in just 24 hours and announced via a post on X. It's a lo-fi synthwave collection that betrays her genre-defying instincts and trades neo-soul smoothness for raw, hallucinatory energy. She bellows like a dancehall toaster and delivers fragmented narration over fuzzy, pulsing synths that echo Gang Gang Dance's experimental spirit. Is it an EP, album, or mixtape? It doesn't matter-PAST FUTUR.e is an unfiltered transmission from one of r&b's most inventive voices, and it's wildly unpredictable.
Review: Liv.e is an LA-based, Dallas-born artist who this summer has a reimagined version of her acclaimed sophomore album Girl In The Half Pearl served up after collaborating with Dallas-based producer Ben Hixon. Together, they transform the original tracks into an energised, feel-good experience that symbolises resilience and recovery after heartbreak. Hixon's innovative approach to each song adds a wholly different perspective on Liv.e's introspective lyrics with genre-blending production traversing, trap, broken beats, deep house and and blissed out grooves all with the vocals unifying the sounds with an otherworldly edge.
Review: Lord Byron's sixth album is a real standout in his discography and another trademark fusion of Southern rap's silky essence with the introspective depth of slowed-down, chopped-and-screwed beats. Produced by Ben Hixon of Dolfin Records (which is dropping a ton of great records right about now, by the way) A Portrait of Fyodor on Fire shows off Byron's versatile delivery as he seamlessly blends rapid-fire verses with the hypnotic rhythms of DJ Screw's influence. Collaborations with RPBGV further enrich the sound with new layers of complexity and innovation all white drawing inspiration from diverse sources for subtle inspiration that makes for a Texan-infused world of introspection and rhythm.
Review: Texas-based Ben Hixon and Atlanta's Stefan Ringer collide on this new split EP for the increasingly vital Dolfin label. It is Ringer who starts with a tight, grinding groove on 'Moving Walkway' with spoken word snippets and kaleidoscopic synth sequences bringing a trippy and unusual energy to the menacing bass. His 'PLGLY' (SR Big Room mix) is then a heavy beatdown with synths that snap and crack while jazzy percussion and dark vocals bring extra character. Hixon's 'Feels Extremely Good' is a busy, off-balance mix of deep house drums and mind-melting synth refrains while 'My Family' offer a blissed-out and soul-drenched closer.
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