Horchata & Ocosi
Self-Titled
(Zero 1)
Although he shares the same name with a sweet rice drink, Horchata (aka Mike Palace) will probably never get confused with the drink itself, or asked to write a theme song for it. The dark, pulsing rhythms and click hop sounds that he creates simply probably don't convey the angle that the company would ever go for in trying to market a creamy, refreshing beverage. That is, of course, unless they decided to drop the ethnic food market and move into places where less sun reaches.
Last time we met up with Horchata, he was duking it out with Twine on Resource, a batch of remixes and originals from the two artists that found them giving each other the sonic jumble. Although he's released some darn fine work on his own, this self-titled release again finds him working with another artist. This time, Ocosi joins the fray, and instead of remixing one another, they've teamed up for 11 tracks and over an hour of music.
From the start, this release is a little bit more structured than Resource, and it seems to focus quite a bit more on rhythm than melody. On "Slip Away," a shaking beat comes into play while a low-end pulse pounds even deeper as some simple drones add a touch of lighter sounds. "Quinto" slows things down a great deal, oozing along with a slow, pulsing beat and odd gurgling noises, while "Something for Nothing" cranks things up with an off-kilter breakbeat and some high-end drones.
Although there really isn't much that locks in your craw in terms of melody, fortunately the disc has some really slick programming to keep things interesting. "Spoo CC" drops an absolutely syrupy bottom-heavy beat and all kinds of sloppy (in a good way) trimmings while "Metamorphic" thumps along with a deconstructed hip-hop beat and a faint twinkling melody that helps to keep things at least slightly buoyant. Although there are some nice uses of drones and very subtle lighter sounds, this release is mainly all about the bottom-heavy rumble. While it manages to stay interesting for the most part, there are definitely moments where tracks just shamble on for too long, taking an interesting beat or sound and simply running with it for too long. Still, as with his other release, if you're into dark-tinged electronic music like Scorn, this will probably be right up your alley. Pretty good, but both artists have done better.
Rating: 6.25
