EQUIKNOXX - Bird Sound Power (2016) - exquisite avant-dancehall riddims

A newcomer into my EOY top ten and definitely one of the more interesting things I've heard this year.

Check check check

https://soundcloud.com/equiknoxxmusic

This is great, thanks. Like an especially weird digital dancehall Prince Far I

if there's anything else out there that sounds like this, I'd love to know.
There are those Invasion of the Mysterons Killer Sounds comps from a while ago, but even those aren't on quite the same level of strangeness as this.

expressed some reservations on the dancehall thread but here I'd just direct you to some of their work with vocalists. Here's a few off the top of my head; I'll look up some others later.

Assume these are all NSFW:

Devin Di Dakta, "Bubble":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NkoekZzf7E

Masicka, "In the Morning":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvTswHCEALI

Masicka, "No Big Deal":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zPkwSRJBk

yeah i was v disappointed to play this and find it was all instrumental

"bubble" is so good

their Fact mix is much more to my tastes: http://www.factmag.com/2016/08/29/equiknoxx-fact-mix/

I'd have thought that much of ythe pint of the album is that it's instrumental though, no?
I love this kind of thing (riddims with the vocal stripped out) cos it works just as well as electronic listening music in that context as it does dance hall.

also, I guess, it's good for DJs to play out if they have an MC already, or for mixed-bag DJs to mix into other styles etc.. don't get me wrong, of course I like vocal dancehall but this works for me in its own right

Yeah I would pay good money to hear Busy Signal over all of these but in its current state it just sounds unfinished.

this fact mix is great, in quite a different way. the Ace of Base / Popcaan mashup is extremely lol

xp there is something a bit like Busy's "Everybody Move" about "Bubble"

I think my problem with BSP probably started with my hearing that mix first and then expecting the album to be in a similar vein rather than its more skeletal sound

yeah maybe. if you just listen to it the same way as you would have, I dunno, Zomby or something it makes sense. but I can see how it might come across as a bit bare and po-faced compared to this.
I like Riddims qua Riddims though and things like the Mo Wax Now Thing and Attack of the Mysteron Killer Sounds comps do a lot for me. Got plenty of Busy Signal if I wanna hear that.

I feel like I should like riddims on their own since I love dub, but I have that Mysteron comp and I never listen to it. Anyway, I do appreciate that Equiknoxx are established dancehall producers not like some white hipsters doing an arty take on it or something; their weirdness feels earned.

for that reason I'm a bit conflicted about calling them 'odd' or even 'avant' (as I did in the thread title). those imply that Equiknoxx are somehow outside of dance hall or above it in some way, when that's absolutely not true, and one of the best things about them. it's not even that 'weird. unusual in places, but it seems overplayed as though they're this crazy experimental act or something.

agreed, very little "weird" dancehall is as weird as the most popular mid 90s ragga riddims

oh my god is it 2000 again

haha otm. i know you're probably talking about the discussion more than the music, but it did make me look up some '00s albums that it reminded me of (like David Last's 'The Push Pull').

honestly this isn't really holding my attention as instrumentals, but i want to check out some of their productions for vocalists (thanks for posting some above).

I saw them play a couple of months ago with Shanique Marie on vocals. 10/10.

this one popped up on an old playlist today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO2spf3WfqA

forgot this one was Equiknoxx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaAEb2kDUn4

New album out tomorrow. They have the best song titles this side of Carcass:

01. ‘Kareece Put Some Thread In A Zip Lock’
02. ‘Heathen Emissaries From The Dens of Babylon’
03. ‘Plantain Porridge’
04. ‘Flank’
05. ‘Your Ears Are Not Very Small’
06. ‘Melodica Badness (Feat Addis Pablo)’
07. ‘Ceremonial Eating Dog’
08. ‘Sent For Ducklings, Got Ducks’
09. ‘Enter A Raffle… Win A Falafel’
10. ‘A World of Welsh’
11. ‘Definitely Not Something Offensive’
12. ‘Waterfalls In Ocho Rios’
13. ‘We Miss You Little Joe’

the Boomkat clips sound fantastic

if you like this you might like I by STILL

https://soundcloud.com/pan_hq/sets/still-ipan-80

http://p-a-n.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/STILL-front-small.jpg

this is GREAT, the late great. thanks.

yeah! the PAN label is nothing if not reliable ...

PAN rules and it's a good parallel but Equiknooxx have more ingrained weirdness/inventiveness for my tastes.

cheers late great. Also looking forward to the new Equiknoxx. I'm a bit obsessed with the idea of experimental dancehall riddims

A friend actually bought me the new album and I'm listening to it now! This is really pushing things out as far as dancehall is concerned. Without vocals, this is closer to leftfield electronica than anything else and I love that kind of crossover where, e.g. Autechre insisting they're making hip hop and breaks music

The new album by Errorsmith 'Superlative Fatigue' would also fit into this sphere. I'm a bit obsessed RN tbh

The Errorsmith album is a blast and worked much better for me than Equiknoxx's own stuff. I get that he's legit etc but every time I listen to him I just keep wishing there were vocals, whereas Errorsmith is a techno producer really and his album works as such.

I think we said it upthread but Equiknoxx have done loads of stuff with vocalists too.
From a DJ's perspective, I really like the Equiknoxx stuff as I can mix it into my sets and it fits next to everything from Vybz Kartel to Autechre. I guess this is what these productions are made for, to be played out and sung/toasted over.
But equally I really enjoy just listening to producers in genres where the musician often plays second fiddle to the vocalist (I really really enjoyed the Future-less Zaytoven Beast Mode instrumentals that are available on Spotify). I like the idea that dancehall/riddim can be treated as a dance genre in itself rather than a functioning carrier for an MC.

(while I'm at it, may as well plug the fact I've been practising my Serato skills and done a mix with Equiknoxx as the jumping-off point: https://www.mixcloud.com/doglatin/dutty-great-bass-face-2017/)

I somewhat agree with Matt's point - this is even more minimal and abstract than their previous album, and often feels it needs something to anchor it to reality. There are hooks in there, I think, but they'll take some digging out.

Show me the rabbithole, I say, although I agree that the first album is a bit more immediate, a bit 'chunkier'.

As for Errorsmith, I like this too, it packs a lot more wallop than Equiknoxx, but I wonder where the tipping point happens when it goesinto The Bug-style territory and becomes more of an industrial hybrid.

That Still album linked upthread is fantastic too

the late great, do u have a twitter account, i wanna shout you out for hipping me to Still

haha no twitter, glad you like it

The new Junction mini-album on Swing Ting might be of interest here. Features a short piece with Gavsborg

New Fader mix. Starts off with Stevie Wonder's 'Part Time Lover' https://www.thefader.com/2017/12/20/fader-mix-equiknoxx-gavsborg

New song that I guess is from Shanique Marie's solo project? Ft the amazing Alanna Stuart from Toronto's Bonjay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5D143CFOAw

yeah I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but it's her solo debut: https://shaniquemarie.bandcamp.com/album/gigis-house

extremely into the new one: https://equiknoxx.bandcamp.com/album/basic-tools-mixtape

same!

Urban Snare Cypher, such a timeless feel. They’re really riding the crest so to speak.

sky direction

this is absolute murder - Equiknoxx skippers Gavsborg & Time Cow on a purely instrumental LP that romps between Autechrian mutations, avant R&B swangers, Jersey-style sluggers and proper, wig-flipping club missiles. Limited vinyl, now shipping 🔥🔥🔥🦅

⤳ https://t.co/obaeG8fFpy pic.twitter.com/8GCRTzRfic

— Boomkat.com (@boomkatonline) April 21, 2022

gav & Jord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMSVvPxpSEE