Wabz – Dreamscape (Tim Shiel Remix)
There’s a brand new Strain Of Origin coming this week. Now I’d like to think there are two appropriate responses to that fact. The first light interest, unaware of what you’re in for and the second is extreme excitement, because if you do know of the Strain Of Origin series then you’ll know that they’re some of the best curated and executed releases to come from independent Australian music world each year. They pair up two artists let’s say, for arguments sake, Wabz and Tim Shiel) and have the second artist (Tim) remix the a song by the first artist (Wabz). That’s just a hypothetical though, it can be literally any two artists.
In any case, we’re here with the first track from this years Strain Of Origin which sees Tim Shiel remixing Wabz. The original track is lifted from Wabz 2015 album Argyle and is a meditative song wrapped around two key elements. A pair of worrisom, reverberating guitar notes and a vocal sample that wouldn’t read out of place on the nihilst memes facebook page. “There is no forever. We all die someday”
The beat slides in and out and the only constant is the guitar and the sample. It’s not exactly melancholy or dark so much as a introspective, giving you space to dwell on the song’s emptier moments as the song bids you dwell on life’s emptier moments. Not empty of positivity, but empty of all things.
The edit you’ll find on Strain Of Origin V adds to the quiet atmospherics of the original with a perfectly joggable 130bmp and a rythm that’ll keep your knees in sustained motion. There’s still no fear but there’s more determination to this collaborative version and a sense of purpose that isn’t present in the questioning original. It dwells within the sphere of energetic, pulsing tracks that grow to a a steady throb with artists like Rival Consoles or Jon Hopkins and Tim will either agree with me or hate me saying that so here’s my hand on show. There’s one funny little moment in the track that has captivated me everytime I’ve listened to it and I know it feels like a silly micro-analysis but the ten seconds from 2:20 – 2:30 where the original “we all go one way” echos out before “we all die ***someday***” hits in reply but in this instance the someday has been perfectly rendered so as to sonically represent the systematic inevitability of death. Come on Tim, please try to keep it light, my kids read this. If you’re going to keep reminding them of their own mortality then I’m going to have to stop writing about your music.
Strain Of Origin V also features combination recordings from artists such as HTMLflowers, Andrew Tuttle, Dylan Michél and Setec. It’s out through Sydney’s Feral Media now and yours via this link.
Artists you need to know rn
| 1. 1300 |  |
316 |
| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
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Truly a top post on this here blog, this one.
Crisp sound stage and peppy beat despite the pessimistic tone.
Thanks Timothy you sweet man