Pittsburgh's Perris Dietrich, or Shisa as he's known online, always claims to make house music or techno. But, I don't really agree. I've always heard an urban influence there, not in the way that a marketer might say “urban,” but I mean truly urban – the actual sounds of a city. To me his tracks, especially this one – “if you're going to cut me i want it to bleed (special)” – have always come across as a unique, super-accessible take on footwork, the genre child of another post-industrial city. While sticking to house's 4/4, Shisa's songs still maintain the haphazard energy of footwork.
Combining an urban setting with stylized, dreamlike interjections of violence from classic videogames, director Ben Tabas' video for (special) absolutely nails the feel of the track. The grey city streets of Pittsburgh are illuminated by the light of TV-screen image overlays and JRPG combat sprites – pretty appropriate for one of the founders of the Postlife crew (see, it's clever because it can mean like, after- life, as well as, like, web posts, and therefore…). The excellent Fire Emblem makes a commanding appearance, befitting the song's title – death in Fire Emblem is permanent and irreversible.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88qjgZhEXsI&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
This track, and two more, are out tomorrow, February 7, on Shisa's first vinyl release, entitled graciously ruin your own life. Pick it up on Hoko Sounds, Postlife's in-house label.
Shisa
if you're going to cut me, i want it to bleed (special)
- Hoko Sounds
- February 7, 2014
