Last summer, I wrote a little piece about Satellite High here on the release of his best-of, Made Us Grits. It was a good time for his music: his music was featured on the popular podcast Night Vale, he’d released a great sampler of his back catalogue and the then-new release The Art of Living Obnoxiously was his best yet.
A year later, he’s released a handful of new albums and with his latest, he’s changed things up: a new alias, a new angle on his music, even a Dave Holland cover. In some ways A Record is as challenging as anything Jay Satellite has ever done, but I think it’s also his best work yet – and one of the best records I’ve heard all year.
If I’m being honest, his cover of Dave Holland’s “The Conference of the Birds” is what drew me to this record; I knew when he tweeted about it, it was something I had to hear. For his skills on mic or as producer, Jay Satellite (I feel uncomfortable using his real name without permission) is a considerable musician, too, as his bass playing shows there.
Elsewhere, he’s top-notch, too. The entire album rings with percussion, especially on “No Gods, No Masters,” and “Ghost Ghost Ghost.” His droning keyboards and spacy production give the album a dark mood, even before you start picking apart his lyrics – themselves often drenched in vocal effects and reverb. A Record doesn’t really feel like any other hip-hop album I’ve heard this year: it’s out there, in it’s own space.
It’s only on the one song he didn’t produce where things come back to Earth. “My Stuff,” produced by Variant, is a horn-riff drenched banger where Satellite cuts loose and wouldn’t sound out of place on any of his other album. As a change of pace it’s nice, coming right between his Dave Holland cover and “Codeswitching,” where his echoed lyrics are delivered over a droning, almost Krautrockish beat.
On the whole, I think this release is a brave one: it’s a major break from Jay Satellite’s past work and not just because he’s using a new name. It’s not as funny or catchy as his earlier records, but here he’s stepped up his game. I’m tempted to call it demanding because it comes at you from a different way than, say, Piñata did: it doesn’t get in your face and demand your attention, it sneaks up on you after repeated listens. At least it did for me: I like A Record the more I listen to it.
Again, his Dave Holland cover kind of tips his hand here a bit: this an album where his background work is as strong as anything he’s doing on the mic. By the time the album ends with “Open Your Eyes, So It Goes,” his vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix and his guitar right to the front. I can’t say I minded one bit. You won’t either! Find it at his Bandcamp
Rating: 4/5