2000Black – Make It Hard
The 2000Black collective took their name from a Roy Ayers track which contained the phrase “Think about the future, think about change”, and its advice that UK producer Dego McFarlane has certainly followed through the trajectory of his career. It’s been a restless voyage across genres for McFarlane, beginning as part of early ‘90s hardcore originators 4Hero, and later branching off into a barrage of imaginative solo pseudonyms such as Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, Da True B-Boy Descendant, and Cousin Cockroach. This latter moniker was recently re-popularized through Berceuse Heroique’s re-issue of 2002’s pre-dubstep broken beat anthem “This Ain’t Tom N’ Jerry”.
Make It Hard is the first 2000Black release in seven years, and alongside collective members Kaidi Tatham and Akwasi, the trio’s re-emergence showcases three cuts of maximally effective house music that nods to the roots of soul, jazz and broken beat. A testament to the polished musicality of all the participants, with just enough of McFarlane’s middle-finger production ethic inserted in the margins to keep things unusual.
“Make It Hard” begins with an organic drumline that twists and turns quite satisfactorily on their own, until a set of piano keys pierce the track, signalling the encroachment of a number of other sounds that all seem to dart in at once. A squelchy, unpredictable synth line, sporadic cowbell, and what may even be a jittery theremin. It’s likely not a coincidence that McFarlane and Tatham recently debuted on Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature label, as “Make It Hard” gives anything on Parrish’s American Intelligence a run for its money in terms of playful joy and cross-genre house/funk pollination.
It’s also a track that finds McFarlane and company adding new elements with the frantic expertise of skilled improvised musicians, a stark contrast to his admittance to FACT earlier this year that his career largely began as a trial-and-error process of mistakes. If it was true decades ago, it’s much harder to believe now, as “Make It Hard” rides through its culmination with a singular, locked vision.
On the flip, “Counter Attack” begins with rollicking drums that are reminiscent of old Steve Gadd marching band routines, but instead of being recognizable for its military rigour, it’s the synth line that dominates the track; a goofy, playful, repetitious thing that always re-appears in a slightly morphing form of itself. An aural shape shifter, or rhythmic Soucouyant. While “Make It Hard” was set on evoking one’s full dance floor participation, the rollicking synth of “Counter Attack” seem more interested in taking detours and sidesteps around the theme of the track, fleshing out all the possibilities of the organic rhythm.
With a name like “Steady Jam”, one might expect a more conventional DJ tool of a track – fortunately, that never has and appears to never be in the cards for 2000 Black. Instead, it ekes out a slinking understated funk that feels organic in comparison to the other offerings. An earthy, almost subterranean groove whose synth work evokes the feeling of a damp, dark, mossy place in the middle of nowhere where potentially poisonous fungi grow wild. The drawn-out synth keys are almost mournful, channelling the melancholia of The Cure’s “Close To Me”. But just when you think you’re settling in, the second half of “Steady Jam” switches up on a dime and introduces anxiety-triggering rising arpeggio keys, as if you’re running out of time to complete an underground level in one of the old Super Mario games.
While these three tracks are as polished as anything McFarlane has produced, there’s a certain peculiarity to them that kept this writer examining the rhythms over and over – lingering traces of McFarlane’s early day rudeboy approach to production seem hidden in between every beat. And while Make It Hard isn’t as sonically jarring as his earlier work, it’s both a nod to and a continuation of the legacy of Black music that McFarlane and friends have been not only moulding for the last two and a half decades, but constantly reshaping, revising, and figuring out what’s next.
Brendan Arnott
Tracklisting:
1. Make It Hard
2. Counter Attack
3. Steady Jam