aaamusic | On 17, Mar 2012

Giantland an EP from Manchester duo Left Channel is out now. On a first listen it is difficult to define the genre of Left Channel- they use heavy samples and a wide variety of sounds and beats to create a sound that I can best describe as progressive, instrumentalist hip-hop.

The tracks on this album jump from spoken word, to bird noises, to organic musical instruments, to grime beats and then to heavy bass tracks, as I said- a mixed bag. Giantland is full of surprises and new sounds which is a rare feat in the DJ realm where remixes and sample usage often becomes tired and repetitive.  This cannot be said of Giantland- their sound is truly fresh. Of course, there will be sceptics who will question the place of this music, it is undoubtedly a niche market- but Left Channel stand to gain many fans of this genre as their music has an exciting element to it.
Stand out track for me is opening track “The Window Blossoms” which has a Fatboy Slim vibe to it, it with its funky groove beats and changing tone throughout. “Brittle Gray” is one of the best tunes on this EP using beginning with  whistle samples and also incorporating a vocal sample from the 1974 hit ‘Move me no Mountain’. It is nice to hear some vocals in the Left Channels music as opposed to spoken words, I feel that the entire release would benefit from more vocal samples as they make the songs memorable and give a top line to the interesting things that Left Channel are doing with beats.

 

Orna Lyons