2011 seemed to be the year of anonymous production and a guessing game for those following the bass music scene. Whether it was putting a face to "Sicko Cell", or if that unreleased track by Joy Orbison was called "Ellipsis" or "Source Delight", it proved to be a year full of nameless tracks that kept fans and artists alike on their toes. Just as 2011 came to a close, it seemed as though most of our unreleased questions were answered. Among many others, a handful of highly anticipated tracks by Boddika, Scuba, George Fitzgerald, and Addison Groove, all saw releases in the massive DJ Kicks compilation/mix by Scuba.
While most had been celebrating the holidays with their families and enjoying their time off, a small handful of us were feeling the music withdrawals harder than ever—myself included. Off a tip from Dummy Mag, I was brought to the YouTube channel of Evian Christ, a stark page with eight dubious looking uploads. Given that I was starting to get sick of those "Top 100 Tracks of 2011" articles that flood the internet within the last week of the year, I decided to give the videos a chance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLVmTAG7ZU4[/youtube]
"drip" was the first song by Evian Christ that I heard. Honestly, there's not much to say about it, the track just gave me a feeling reminiscent to when I first heard James Blake: I couldn't really understand the music, but I knew there was something extraordinary coming out of my speakers.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA29Xk6NiRk[/youtube]
Having heard "drip", I decided to look to his other tracks and see if this kid was the real thing and not just a one hit wonder. I was pleasantly surprised by the next track I heard, "MYD". It was similarly dark and heavy, but strangely grew with vocal hits that still resonate with me a week after hearing it for the first time.
Unfortunately, besides his YouTube channel, there is little information I was able to find on this anonymous producer, and any sort of release information on the tracks almost seems comical to talk about at this time. If we do ever see releases from this guy in the future, I would expect big things. The sound is nothing new, but a refreshing and refined take on bass music. If this sound is a taste of music to come in 2012, then I think Evian Christ deserves the same hype as prodigies James Blake and Joy Orbison had received in 2011, there is a lot to be excited about for bass music fans in 2012.
