Gosub – Sunday At Battle Ship Key
Shad T. Scott takes a break from engineering for his A-list clients to drop his first Gosub EP in almost three years. The US producer has been releasing electro for the past fifteen years and as Sunday demonstrates, he is a master in this field. There are no radical departures here from the musical, reflective approach that has shaped classic Gosub releases like Watchers from the Black Universe or Miami to Brooklyn, but it does sound like Scott has refined that process.
“My Stars Or Yours” showcases Scott’s expertise; whereas there are a seemingly infinite amount of producers making electro, few can match the crispness of his snares, his woozy synths and the manner in which he wraps a bubbling acid line around this musical element. The title track is an even more adept articulation of Gosub’s sophistication; underpinned by a rolling, purring bass and tight claps, it features chilling strings and heart-stopping acidic yelps and comes across like a slower, more high-end version of UR’s Final Frontier.
Despite displaying such mastery of his chosen form, Scott finds himself almost outgunned creatively by JTC. Tadd Mullinix has focused on his Charles Manier project for the past few years, but his version of “Sunday At Battle Ship Key” under this older project provides an early contender of remix of the year. This may sound somewhat premature, but it’s on a par with John Heckle’s reshape of Hieroglyphic Being on Tabernacle last year for this writer.
Underpinning the arrangement with rolling, salsa drums, Mullinix adds in flowing piano keys and turns Gosub’s melancholic electronic reflections into a summery house groove that sits somewhere between the aforementioned Heckle remix and Red Snapper’s jazz oddity, “Hot Flush”. There is no doubt that Scott is a master of the electro universe, but Mullinix’s breathy interpretation could see him emerge from the shadows to connect to a whole new world.
Richard Brophy
Tracklisting:
A1. My Stars Or Yours (feat Mr X)
B1. Sunday At Battle Ship Key
B2. Sunday At Battle Ship Key (JTC Remix)