We’re not complaining, but every day our inboxes are filled with pleas from artists, managers, labels, and PR jockeys pleading with us to write something about their or, more often, their client’s music. So sometimes it’s nice when an artist we know simply passes something along without any sort of self-promoting agenda. That happened yesterday when Dubbel Dutch sent us a link to fellow Austin producer Arms & Suites. There was no sales pitch and no back story, just a link and a note that said “deep spacey bass weirdness.” As it turns out, his brief description pretty much nailed it. Arms & Suites’ music takes all the shuffle, offbeat rhythms, and chopped vocal samples of UK funky and London bass music and places them in a freezer, putting a whole new spin on what is often a high-octane genre. Even better, the producer’s self-titled EP is available for free download via Bandcamp. All the songs are quality, but “Brainwash” particularly won us over with its use of a mellowed-out tribal guarachero beat.
