Combinator is definitely out to mix loads of stuff in his newest EP re//combinator, launched in June. An precise twister of whip-fast D&B/industrial snares, analog steel blast beat drums, virtuosic vocals and a shocking dose of slap bass, this rock polisher of a ninth launch from the Seattle-based solo mission of Sean Fairchild has produced some unlikely gems. We simply must make sense of them.
It’s clear from earlier releases by Fairchild as Combinator that, regardless of being a multi-instrumentalist, his base is bass. That might clarify the Seinfeld-meets-Les Claypool-style funk bass work, and it’s pretty much as good a string to tug as any to begin unraveling the tech of re//combinator. Combining parts of analog instrumentalism akin to mentioned slap-and-pop bass, steel drumlines and thrash guitars with digital parts like mod-produced drum & bass snares, ambient melodics, vocoder manipulation et all on this format appears to be pretty new to Combinator, however he’s been gearing as much as it (pardon the pun).
Combinator truly began out as a extra conventional funk/rock fusion band. 2013’s Vice & Ardour EP is a straight up and down studio launch and subsequent releases had been thus till the 2020 single, “Juggernaut.” A Primus-eque love letter to his beloved bass combined with Zappa-style chaotic jam band vibes, “Juggernaut” appears to be the turning level at which Fairchild launched his inside experimental composer/performer. There was clearly no going again from there.
“Juggernaut” was additionally the primary observe from Combinator to have programmed drums – largely semi-ameny snares – together with the analog, nevertheless it turns into actually apparent and EDM-mergy with the observe following, “Can’t Fake to Know.” The primary sniff of indie-style vox hits right here as properly, together with melodic six-string bass work and a few ambient concord programming. Combinator’s fashion is forming with this observe, and severely ramps up with “Eargoggle Fodder,” which launched November that very same 12 months with, for the primary time, an digital base melody which winds across the funk bass, extra indie (though minimal) Maynard-like vocals and even the hints of Zappa once more, however this time rather more composed.
these lead-in tracks, followers can now see that the ear hurricane that’s re//combinator didn’t simply come from a jam session between a talented bassist and digital producer on ketamine, although one may surprise, particularly within the case of the “Respira” mixes. In truth, re//combinator is a development, or a re-combining of all of the musical parts Fairchild has cherished in his musical profession. The primary two tracks, “Visitor In Your Personal Pores and skin” and the lyrically COVID-inspired “Issues that Ought to Be” choose up the place “Juggernaut” and “Eargoggle Fodder” left off, with shades of commercial drums weaving in with the D&B snares and extra Instrument-like verses complimenting the shockingly advanced bass work.
After the relative (although now followable, composition-wise) chaos of the primary two tracks, the third is presumably an excellent greater shock than mentioned chaotic tracks: a remix/cowl of Imogen Heap‘s wildly widespread and, via no fault of her personal, TikTok well-known track, “Conceal and Search.” We solely point out TikTok becuase that well-known model can also be a remix, and Combinator’s remedy of the observe is a bit nearer to the unique. Followers won’t even acknowledge it as such.
Filled with much more distorted vocoder than the unique, it virtually appears like Fairchild decompressed after which performed it backwards whereas including some bass thrives. His precise course of wasn’t far off:
I recorded a number of tracks of vocoded bass guitar, clear bass guitar, and my clear vocals, recreating for probably the most half what she completed with the vocoder synth she (Heap) used on her unique model. Then I created a heavy beat (foreshadowed within the intro) and a few harmonic string stabs to take the track out, layering some soulful bass-driven synth soloing on high.
The result’s a surprisingly delicate comedown off the primary two tracks and an entrée into the subsequent a part of Fairchild’s experiments in sound. “Cartoon Character Little one” is as ambient as we’ve seen Combinator get, because it seems like a dream sequence from Journey Time. Bizarre and experimental as the opposite tracks, this ambient segue into the full-on EDM of the remainder of the EP (save bonus observe “By the Fog”).
Collaboration has all the time been an vital a part of Combinator, and Fairchild labored with different musicians on the ultimate tracks of re//combinator in addition to on “Issues that Ought to Be” (the entice beat was provided by Philip “Godcloud” Coleman). Effectively-known online game and cinematic sound designer Jesse Holt created the manufacturing the “Respira” membership combine and chill mixes. Each mixes are technically chill, particularly in relation to the start of the EP, with home beats at completely different tempos and type of dawn set ambient vibes.
For EP nearer “By the Fog,” Fairchild teamed up with former bandmate drummer Isaac Chirino, and it type of takes listeners full circle, again to Combinator’s funky and jazzy roots. With this closing, regardless of the development witnessed in re//combinator, the viewers is left questioning: will Combinator proceed within the extra ambient area? Or is there to be extra chaos? Is he going again to funk? It’s as much as him to resolve, and if re//combinator has taught us something, artists have the best to re-style, re-work and re-combine their music as they see match.
re//combinator is out now and will be streamed on Spotify or bought on Bandcamp together with the remainder of Combinator’s wild discography. Try his YouTube channel for extra movies.
