U-TRAX is proud to release an EP packed with six tracks by NYC based producer Thavius Beck. From over 100 unreleased tracks, we selected 25 gems - good for over 2 hours of music. In July 2021, the full-length album Cosmic Noise will be released, but first we kick off our joint venture with the multi-talented Beck with this Lovesick EP.
Growing up in LA, Thavius Beck entered the hip-hop scene as member of Global Phlowtations, and released several solo albums under the Adlib moniker. In later years, he released five albums under his own name on labels like Mush, Big Dada and Plug Research, and also produced albums for artists like Saul Williams and K‑the‑I???, and did some remixing for amongst others Nine Inch Nails.
Nowadays he combines making music with a career as a succesful certified Ableton and Bitwig trainer and as a music teacher at Berklee NYC.
Beck's take on electronic music can best be described as 'experimental/instrumental hip-hop', (a la Flying Lotus), but comparisons like 'between DJ Shadow and Orbital' and 'a mix of Massive Attack and The Orb' have also been made. At U-TRAX, we see Thavius' music a happy marriage between hip-hop beats and technosounds.
The irresistible opening track 'Lovesick/Still Sick' presents a sultry, downbeat soundtrack to Shannon's classic vocals, followed by the melancholic and spacey saw-sounds of 'Airwalkin'', that are bedded in a solid hip-hop beat.
Then things get arty with the cauldron filled with sax, guitar and piano tones that is 'Metric Bounce', that, mixed up with some grim beats, becomes the sonic equivalent of a mirror palace. Maniacal high looping synth sounds and low bass punches are what gives 'Mania' its name, followed by the much needed counterpoint 'My Angst Is Louder Than Yours'. This track won't let you relax much though: the dark atmosphere, haunting piano ladders and whispering voices in this track may very well serve as an alternative sound track to The Twilight Zone. Spooky! The EP closes off in similar fashion, with '...May As Well Be Infinite', which is entirely build around the sampled string section of a symphony orchestra, taking the listener to a higher plane. And higher, and higher….