Ace West Coast production duo Blue Sky Black Death, mere days after dropping another stellar collab with Seattle MC Nacho Picasso, are back with Third Party Instrumentals, an all-instrumental version of their 2010 LP Third Party. The original version of Third Party was a bit of departure for BSBD’s Young God and Kingston, as it relied heavily on vocal arrangements and hooks, taking the emphasis on the texturally rich, bass and synth heavy production that’s ordinarily their bread and butter, but as the instrumental release reveals, that particular piece of toast had been buttered all along.
Truthfully, I had thought this was a stand-alone ablum of new instrumentals (albeit a little more stylistically varied than their usual bassy ‘glacial shoegaze hip-hop’ style) for the first listen or two. Third Party Instrumentals, to put it simply, takes the meticulously crafted Blue Sky Black Death sound we know and love, and puts it through a variety of different tempos and contexts (including, but not limited to, flirtations with four-on-the-floor dance music and uplifting, major-key synth jams), ultimately emerging as victorious as ever.
Purchase: Blue Sky Black Death – Third Party Instrumentals [Bandcamp]