Ben Jamin – R a d i o W a v e s

Ben Jamin – R a d i o W a v e s
YGB: 2013

After a steady dripping and dropping of tracks over the past number of months, Auckland, New Zealand based producer Ben Jamin’ has at long last compiled those loosies with a few other masterfully crafted loops and bundled them as the nine-track EP R a d i o W a v e s. Despite its short length, it’s more than worth the wait for those that have stayed plugged into his Soundcloud account for a minute, and will prove eye-opening for anyone else who has an affinity for gently blunted instrumental loops.

I’ve never had the fortune to make it out to NZ, but I have friends down there, and based on what they’ve told me the pieces gathered here slot neatly into my preconceived notions of the place. From top to bottom, R a d i o W a v e s is resolutely low-key, evoking nothing so much as serene sun-kissed landscapes and mild intoxication. It also comes across as determinedly effortless; some of the drums might stumble and stagger like a Fly-Lo track or a DOOM loop, but things are never allowed to get too awkward.

This probably has a lot to do with the powerful aura of smooth jazz that pervades the whole thing; it might only be overtly acknowledged on the earthy, downbeat “Jazzpoetics”, but it slips into almost any open space on the set. This is really is jazz-inflected instrumental hip-hop at its best. Even when things are allowed to get a little less busy, when the beats are stretched out and coloured with more funk, as on the sublime “Asia Dee”,( where guest Abnormal’s snatches of playfully beautiful vocals collude with addictive manipulated synths), it’s clear where the producer’s heart is.

It all comes together best when the jazz signifiers, (gently affected guitars, keyboards that twinkle and bubble their heads alternately above and below the mix), are brandished most openly against the off-beat shuffle that Ben Jamin’ prefers to use as his percussive backdrop, which thankfully is almost all of R a d i o W a v e s’ run time. An EP like this should ideally function as a primer rather than covering too much stylistic ground and Jamin’ stays in the lane that he has apparently already mastered.

The most immediately notable departure is early highlight “New Day”, and it ascends to this status simply by being the only track on the set to feature any bars, courtesy of @Peace. It serves to demonstrate how well a guy (or in the case several) can wax lyrical over Jamin’s work, (@Peace are no slouch), even as the rest of the EP asserts that other similar outside contributions should be treated as potentially welcome contributions, not necessities.

Over steady looped keys paw at snares and hi-hats that perch sublimely on the verge of tripping over themselves, @Peace talk of “getting stoned thinkin’ on that ‘who am I?’ shit”, but it doesn’t sound like too pressing a concern, which is fitting. The music here is soothing, low-key and easy, but it’s equally hypnotic and downbeat. For someone who doesn’t mind their hip-hop instrumental with a healthy dose of jazz, it could lead to a simple zone out or a bit of deep reflection; not bad for an EP that doesn’t last even a half an hour.

4 out out 5