Bang, You're Dead
Late Nights
Super Mart Produce Interbreeding genres to birth new sounds is no longer an innovation, but standard form these days. Still, it can produce surprising results. For instance, who would have thought soul and dubstep would complement each other so pleasantly through their stark contrast? Soul singer/pianist Jes Hudak and NOLA-based DJ/ producer Quickie Mart obviously knew they were onto something, producing a work that is melodic, haunting, and endlessly entertaining on their first EP, Late Nights. The duo crams more than a half-dozen genres into a svelte seven-track set, from R&B to trance to trip-hop and dubstep. The album starts off with its most gripping track, "Without My Love," a longing account of a relationship at its end; Hudak's vocals and piano deliver a slow dirge, while Quickie Mart sparks up the chorus with a pulsating dubstep frequency that punches the emotion to an unchartered crescendo. "Quicksand," the second track, is the odd sibling out, as it is the album's only clear-cut dance track. The club beat doesn't detract from the song's atmosphere, however…its trance-y vibe actually adds to its trippy mood, giving it an almost psychedelic listen. The rest of the album is more chilling and introspective, building off its first track—"Arizona" and "Meteorite" being exceptional standouts. In addition to the seven original tracks, the album also features a handful of remixes courtesy of other Super Mart artists. Hudak and Quickie Mart have delivered one of the year's most dense, multilayered, interesting and enjoyable collections of music to come out of New Orleans. It will be in rotation on my MP3 player for a long time to come—I highly recommend you check it out too. Late Nights is available exclusively via beatport.com on October 10.