Review Summary: keep spinning
Looking for fresh new dance music is often exhausting. Many of the most acclaimed artists and genres are hardly even intended for dance, just people and styles pushing forward the ways we think about music, rather than the way we move about it. Both of these pursuits are both worth pursuing and completely compatible - there is equal validity in the classroom and the dancefloor, the office and the bedroom. DJ Haram continues the tradition her Hyperdub labelmates have extended by creating art that acts thoughtfully and with raw energy. Following on from two innovative EPs (
Mixed Berries and
Grace), this mix created for Resident Advisor's podcast series explores those paths further, flexing what's allowed in all environments, rhythmic or otherwise.
This balance works because of the smaller balances within itself - full sound complimented by empty spaces, shrill serenity and deep chaos, murky waters with distinct form. Like any good DJ, Haram understands that every moment needs a counter, so she never lets any style dwell too long, building Jersey club, hip-hop, gqom and noise into a massive pillar that passes so fast you'll need to listen a few times to catch all of her blends. Cross-referencing the tracklist can't even always help you out without numerous pauses, since these transitions are often so well-placed that people unfamiliar with some of the tracks won't be able to tell the difference between a hook and a new song hitting the DDJ. And while there are definitely many DJs out there with that technical ability, taste matters too. It's hard to think of anyone else in touch enough with the mainstream and the underground to casually merge from Juice WRLD to 8ULENTINA while still staying self-assured enough to drop entry-level experimental hip-hop like FlyLo and Injury Reserve, simply because they all sound good together. It's clear that it doesn't matter to her how cool any of this is (although it does happen to be), just how much it disrupts and satisfies.
74 minutes of cutting-edge club hits whirl and dash by like 30, and by the time upbeat footwork track "U Wanna Be Fr33" slides out of the tough banger "Stupid" and bubbles into silence, you've heard plenty to change your mind about the future of dance, sweat through your shirt, or more likely both. Equal parts impressive and effective, Haram makes a persuasive monist argument, leaving listeners shook mentally and physically in a way that heavily blurs the line between the two. Artists like DJ Haram, ones who are complete experts of their field but don't care about boundaries of status, genre, country or culture are exactly what we need to lose ourselves again.
