3.06.2014

reliefs

In between working on various creative projects, Adam Babar has thoughtfully developed a unique dose of intimately lucid aleatoric electronica. Throughout the years, his solo act Easily Suede has been knitting a boundless audio quilt of sample-based soft beats, warm hushed tones and candid sound collage. See "Reliefs", an album weaved from sunbeam strings that shimmer through cracks in the canopy, shining on keys that crisply cut through the air like leaves in a breeze, and rest upon the biolectronic cadence of a forest floor suppressing endless molten gyrations.

DZ TAPES is proud to present this long overdue physical release, originally put out digitally through Atlanta collective Primitive Patterns. Available March 12 in a limited run of so-fresh-so-clean solid-white cassettes, the album will be accompanied by a brand new collection of Adam's work entitled "Easily" out on Mission Trips the same day. Babar will be celebrating his tandem triumphs at The Mammal Gallery in Atlanta this Saturday with a performance by his side-project Suffer Dragon. In his own words, he describes DZ12:

"[It's] kind of an audio journal of the year 2012. I spent the better part of the year recording it and each track references inside jokes and snippets of my friends from candid recordings on my phone, or inebriated Voxer threads from throughout that year. The entire album was recorded on little-to-no budget. All the tracks were recorded direct into the microphone jack on my laptop, recorded and mixed using Audacity, and mastered by Atlanta pop-smith David Norbery in exchange for a bottle of whiskey."


"Take an immersive listen through headphones and each number reveals nods to high-minded sonic explorers such as Christian Marclay, Philip Glass and Steve Reich; crate-digging hip-hop producers like Madlib and DJ Shadow; audio anthropologists Matmos, and skittering, modern electronica synthesists like Four Tet. Ultimately, Reliefs highlights Babar's effortless, almost accidental approach to capturing audio impulses and shaping them into multi-faceted sonic sketches that function on a number of levels: headphone pop, hip-hop instrumentals, audio pranks, ethereal ambient, and the list goes on." - Creative Loafing