There has been a buzz around the names James Blake and Harmonimix since the man and his moniker broke out into the bass scene two years ago. There's no doubt both sides of James Blake brought interesting and weirdly pleasing sounds to the bass scene. With his last release as Harmonimix on extremely limited white label back in 2011, there has been little else to do but wait for when the next string of remixes that would be released. While intricately playing into the method of hyping music at the time, the Harmonimix tracks saw sparse play, no word on release status, and exponentially building hype from the bass community.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCs9j3FReN0[/youtube]
R&S Records announced that on the last week of September, two of the mostly highly anticipated Harmonimix mixes featuring ex Roll-Deep member Trimbal will be released on vinyl and digital formats. Even after two years, grainy YouTube uploads, and various titles, the tracks being released still sound as cutting-edge as they ever did. The a-side, "Confidence Boost (Harmonimix)", can be best recognized by the addicting line strike a pose. As the echoing vocals bounce off distant walls in the beginning of the track, a broken, wide bassline sweeps across each bar, pulling together percussion hits. As the song progress, a growing synth takes over the entire track, squeezing the vocals through its overwhelming presence in the track.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5afkOtoAEXc[/youtube]
On the flip side is a more generic James Blake-sounding tune entitled "Saying (Harmonimix)". Also featuring vocals from Trim, the song has a less experimental structure and flows more like a typical song. Crowded with samples, synth, and percussion, the track at times take away the spotlight from Trim, leaving the listener focused on the tangled textures and sounds of the rest of the track.
Confidence Boost will be released on vinyl through R&S Records on September 24, with no word yet on when digital formats will be released.
