Auditory Umami - KidKanevil

From The Red Bull Academy Sonar Dome Website –

“Imaginary hip-hop Growing up on a healthy diet of classic soul, jazz and the golden age of sampling culture, kidkanevil aka Gerard Roberts developed a distinctive downbeat sound over the years that's probably best described with his own words: 'imaginary hip-hop'. A member of the experimental band, Stateless, and former writer for the taste-making music magazine, Straight No Chaser, kidkanevil has received the thumbs-up from everybody from DJ Shadow to Breakin Bread to URB magazine.”

Now with that out of the way I will begin to tell you about a new breed of producers that are providing a sonic landscape that is transcending the border’s of rap and electronic music. I must admit I have been sitting on this for a couple of months now and was planning to write it about from the road, but it’s the road you know?!

Sitting at my computer one day, I can’t remember if it was on Twitter, Facebook, text message, or what have you, that I ended up clicking on a link for an aspiring bleep-and-blip master from the UK named KidKanevil. Besides having MC/Producer/DC native Oddisee on the dopest track on the EP(“ZoOoOoOoP”), the album artwork, name, and overall package (Pause, no homo) of the musical product interested me.

I’m going to break down all the little things that make this release unique and worth your 10 minutes:

First and foremost, the name KidKanevil is tight.
Moving on, the cover art for the EP is something that I would envision in my head that goes with a name like KK - robots, Japanese writing, the works.
The release clocks in at a whopping, 9 minutes and 40 seconds and has 1 guest, 1 remix, 1 instrumental, and 1 re-flip.
Lastly, it’s called FreeBeatsAndBleeps.*

Now let’s get to the artistry:

The EP starts with One For Tokyo; a chilled out, spacey-jam, with a nice melodious repetitious chorus of a woman singing. Intertwined throughout the sparse jam are spacey bleeps, blips, and boops; that segues into the Dilla-esque outro HEY YO!

ZoOoOoOoP Featuring Oddisee is the 2nd and 3rd track (instrumental version) and easily have the most dancefloor-ready beats that would turn the club upside-down Inception-style. Odd flips his patented delivery and style and rides the beat like a Master Craft up the river. He is an artist that is transcending both genres of hip hop and electronic music, just like KK. Nahmsayin is up next and it is the longest on the record and features a more classic drum break style that's peppered with modded-out bass, computer noises, and vocal samples from Do you know what I’m saying?  This track reminds me of a NiTGRiT track on drugs. The albums lone remix of Reckoner from Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows should have been a favorite of mine, but its actually my least favorite track. The 10 Seconds KidKanevil reflip at the end of the EP is my second favorite track from FreeBeatsAndBleats. It is flooded wtih traditional hip hop elements, and it is just a good track to nod your head to.

In closing, KidKanevil describes his sound as “imaginery hip-hop” and while I’m not quite sure what he means by that it somehow seems appropriate. You might call it 2010 Space Odyssey-type music with a Dilla-twist but whatever you call it, he is part of a new sect of pioneers (KK, Pretty Lights, Machinedrum, NiTGRiT, edIT, Mux Mool, Spor, Slugabed, Mochipet, Mono/Poly, Mr. Dibiase) that aren’t afraid to merge two cultures and musical styles to form something new and organic.

Stay Tuned, stay fresh, peace and progress..

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*Editor’s Note* I almost named this column Bleeps and Blips it still might work its way into something but no biting allowed so sayeth Masta Ace.