Detroit's Omar-S used to take pride in making bare-bones rhythm tracks that required a little bit of work from DJs who wanted to unlock their secrets. "You got people like, 'Is that all the record do?' Yeah, bitch, that's all the record do," he boasted to the Infinite State Machine blog in 2007. "Your lazy ass needs to do some other shit with it." And when it comes to making hypnotic, minimalist assemblages out of just a few creaky moving parts, he's unparalleled. But in recent years, he's more often been turning his hand to melody.
"The Lost Albatross", the A-side to his new Side Trak'x Vol. 4 EP, is instrumental, soaked in '80s synths and electro-funk chirp. A scuffed, simple drum pattern injects a hint of toughness to the softly swinging groove. Like all of Omar-S's music, the sonics are proudly unvarnished, but that's not to say they don't shine. Working with an array of buzzing, chiming synthesizers, he piles chords on top of chords, and every time you think you've got a handle on all the parts, another sparkling keyboard line pokes its head out. It's the clown-car approach to production: it may look modest at first, but open the door, and you'll be surprised at how many ideas come spilling out.
| A | The Lost Albatross (Rosetta Hines extended mix) | 5:06 |
| B1 | Tgiomde | 3:39 |
| B2 | Xse | 4:41 |
