You may be wandering what Balam Acab (real name Alec Koone) has been up to
in the last few years since his debut album Wander / Wonder. I'm not
quite sure myself to be honest, this is an extraordinary errrr - artist. Acab
has been releasing freebies on his Soundcloud for the past year. A joke track
called "Ass Pop", several remixes, Club Water Discus - a five
track EP of some sort for valentine's day, The Rape After - a two trap experimental piece without any water, VHS SHV - more of the same, and now Slopped & Wetted, a three track
compilation of... I don't even, I can't even...
I actually saw Balam Acab live in New York City, supporting Mogwai. His
sounds are other-worldly, often labelled chillwave and more recently a step
towards a denser electronic sound. Which begs the question: what the hell is he
doing? This three track EP is awful. It hurts me to call an artist I cherish so
dearly awful, because Acab's debut album was one of the best 2011 had to offer.
I'm sure this is just an experimental period between albums, with Acab
releasing these freebies, because they are worth exactly that, nothing.
The first track "Make U Drip" is like all his R&B remixes.
Deep vocals, heavily effected, reverberated electronic clapping and a thick
beat that's not quite a bass sound. The most annoying sound on Acab's new
releases has to be the god forsaken sounds of water. I didn't mind it on Wander
/ Wonder, I didn't mind it when he was live, but this is taking it too far.
He's over stepped the line and he has to be stopped... He's literally flooded
(yes that's a shit pun for you) the track with samples of water dripping from
taps. I can imagine Acab hanging around his bathroom just dancing and
orchestrating how the water drips from the taps or the fosset if you want to be
awkward.
"Fighting Myself" would be a decent track if it had more ambiences
and less water. It's four and a half minutes of the same old shit, with even
more chopped up deep vocals and louder bloody water noises. "You Are"
completes the trio of tracks, with a watered down (another one just for the fun
of it) instrumental. The dripping sounds are less prominent, and the percussion
is far more active than on any track. Again we hear deep vocals as opposed to
the high pitched vocals that worked on Wander / Wonder. It may be possible
that Acab is actually reversing his output, in a sort of tedious way to differentiate
his album work from his free releases. This is more than likely, because Acab
doesn't seem like the kind of guy to throw away what career he actually has
performing electronic music. I'm sure his sophomore will be fantastic and he
will tone down the samples of water. Otherwise you can kiss goodbye to
dedicated fans expecting more than the soundtrack to Sea World.
~Eddie
