Roebin de Freitas _ Nobody Climbs These Stairs Without Expecting Something Disturbing [ALBUM REVIEW]
The 16 originals and 12 remixes of RdF’s third album are strongly influenced by IDM, Dub, Ambient, dubstep and breakbeat. However, the glue that binds these ideas together is always Techno. It’s an intelligent and inspiring approach, and essential listening when you consider that Surgeon is playing them in his sets..
This double album spans an incredible 150mins over its 28 tracks.. and its going to be pretty nigh impossible to cover everything here and give it the justice it deserves.. But honestly – The 16 originals are brilliant and are SO worth your time to investigate.
Opener – Apia_Elements is a super tight percussion track with a deep galloping bass. It’s almost like a 21st century IDM take on loop Techno – except its got style. The production is so precise throughout these tracks and RdF always gets the balance between clean digital sounding parts and pure dirt absolutely right. Ceizo is a fucking leviathan with a break your neck clap and messed-up bass – it’s a new favourite. Doubt Pt.1-3 is a resonating post-dubstep / techno hybrid with a distinct beginning, middle and end. The reason why these tunes work in an album format is because they are musically very interesting. You can see why Surgeon likes this one as it’s got that whole section change thing going on.
From It Had Some Form of Container onwards.. the album turns into pure fusion. Electronic beats and heavy broken rhythms soak every track. I can’t help but think that this is the kind of album that Xhin should have made with Sword – but didn’t. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to this over the last couple of days. Tjingle Tjangle , with it’s broken beats and bitcrushed synth, is properly epic – Really cool track.
The impression that you get from the breath of these tracks is that RdF is a very skilled producer. Respect is due for making the diversity of these ideas work. He definitely has pulled it off. The remix package has got some wicked tracks, which observe the sonic footprint of the originals while bringing them off on their individual tangents. Personal favourites have to be those from Deep Sea, Manouver, Djorvin Clain & Najem Sworb.
Video for Tjingle Tjangle remix by Lil’ Piggy
It sounds like a dismissive statement – but there really is something for everyone here. It is a diverse package – but its the type of release that ensures that you discover something new each time you listen to it. How often does that happen?
It’s unimaginable to appreciate the amount of effort that’s gone into producing a release like this by yourself. The reward is ultimately watching it being enjoyed.. and rightly so – it’s great music! Fair play!
RdF is going to start releasing these on a biweekly basis on bandcamp, which will lead up the album release on the 1st of August.
First release is Doubt. http://roebindefreitas.bandcamp.com/album/doubt-ep
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