Paul White
paul white - One Eye Open EP
Back in stock. We've had two eyes open, and two ears fully focussed on Paul White's brilliantly idiomatic oeuvre over the last 18 months or so. Sitting cool with the rest of the One-Handed crew (Bullion and Tranquil), Paul White has garnered a lot of interest and hyperbole around his heavyweight instrumental hiphop style with his previous 7"s held in high regard for their refreshing fusion of oddly juxtaposed samples and bass heavy beats with a cosmically abstract spirit. You know you're in the presence of a gifted digger with the title track's opening refrain of "I'm the guy they spit upon" which gives way to a a raw psyched beat sketch sounding like DJ Shadow on some dark juice, before 'Alien Nature' makes the obligatory sacrifice at the alter of Dilla with a jaunty joint totally happy to wander off on it's own brilliantly lopsided tangent at any given moment. The darkened electro (disco) soul of 'Time Wars' is a massive highlight of the EP, sitting on the precipice between John Carpenter soundtrack styles, Danielle Baldelli-ish cosmic disco and that grey area of hiphop and proto-house this is just delectably on point. Following on, 'Phone Pest' screws the styles towards dub-fired 80's electro soul for another twist in the story and ever increasing list of influences, while final track 'Hustle' rolls up a sick instro hiphop edit that's going to take a few more listens to fully appreciate - big big track. There's just so much going on here you'll need at least 20 minutes rest and contemplation after ingesting this, but once the nourishment has settled in you'll be ready for another three courses. Highly recommended for fans of Mike Slott, Floating Points, Bullion or Harmonic 313 - Buy!
