Man cannot live on Bread alone...but apparently Rum & Bacon is OK...
...according to Micky Strirrups anyway who uses Rum & Bacon as a staple. From a nutritional standpoint it’s debatable whether this is an advisable diet for many people but, it would seem, Micky is not just anyone...or at least we can have an educated guess that this is the case.
VKRS have been keeping a close eye on Micky for a while, we’ve noticed he was Sonrisa FM Top of the Week (with his track Bad Robot), we were enticed by the YouTube video of Flashback (pre-dating this release) and a plethora of commentary on his work via Social Media and music sites VKRS frequents. But, of Micky, we know nearly nothing. It seems, despite our best and most persistent efforts, this is set to continue.
What do we know about Micky then? We guess he’s probably from middle England (through some heavy internet stalking), he seems like a jolly nice fellow from email conversations (he only communicates through a traceless gmail address) and we know for sure his logo is that of a well-dressed, dapper kind of chap with...well...no face. And this is exactly what Micky wants, it’s his mystique, his mojo if you will. This rather leaves us, then, with the music and, we are forced to suspect, this is also precisely what Micky wants.
Let’s take track two of this release first then instead. When Musica opens it kind of leaves us wondering what’s going to come next...like it’s author it kicks off as a tune without a face...it could go anywhere...but then the beats begin. A deep throb of hypnotic rhythm that has you waiting eagerly for the next layer of paint... crisp production. yes, but with some wonderfully understated sub that’s almost, but not quite, verging on dub. Definitely the more downtempo of the two tracks it still has an engaging after-party beat that would have you tapping your feet and longing for a time earlier in the evening when you were sweating and throwing your arms around your mates in joyous bonhomie!
If Musica was the after-party then Flashback is the main event. This is intelligent Dubstep at it’s finest...some wobble-type bass that, in our arrogant opinion (and avoiding acronyms) does what so much dubstep fails to do...and that is to make any kind of attempt at fitting in with the song itself. The beat is once again Micky’s chief selling point...cleverly inter-woven drumstepesque beats that act as part of a team rather than 11 individuals all trying to shoot for goal at once. In terms of melody it’s all in the middle and bass but the use of some delayed bells at the top end give the track a little of bit of extra richness and texture that really lift it out of the seething mass of, well...dross, that so frequently emerges from the world of Dubstep.
We just love this release and we know you’re going to as well. And if anyone finds anything more out about Micky that we’ve been unable to (like anything...anything at all)...let us know...we’re kind of curious.
VKRS Team |
![[VKRSNL036] Micky Stirupps - Flashback EP](/img/work/nomencl/m_5099.jpg "[VKRSNL036] Micky Stirupps - Flashback EP")
