No Grand Narrative: Sync In Squares

What are we really talking about when we talk about forward-thinking music? What qualities elevate certain tracks out of the established spheres of sonic experience, and into realms capable of arousing emotions both new and suppressed? Do we talk about that sync-in sync-out rhythm, that hi-hat sound, or that gorgeous, washed-out texture?

Do we rely too much on context, on the story behind a record, or the nostalgia it evokes? Under what kinds of conditions is it made? Can its origins be disguised, and be replaced with the fantastical, or purposely made ambiguous? Are these questions even worth asking, or might the history of music journalism be one of a fruitless pursuit of the ineffable?

Working hard to dispel the notion that any of these questions can be answered definitively are Glasgow-based promoters Sync In Squares. Having previously brought the likes of Mala and Geoff Barrow to the city, their August line-up is set to take us on a fascinating journey across the club music spectrum, touching down on everything from jazz-informed electronica, to soulful, heavy-handed hip-hop instrumentals, to raw UK funky.

The future, it seems, lies in not one but several directions - least of all behind us, back when the ‘futuristic’ was an altogether more solid concept, and not plagued with the difficulties particular to the digital age. It was on the cusp of this, just prior to the turn of the century, when producer Justin Smith AKA Just Blaze began putting out the first in a vast catalogue of productions for what reads like a who’s-who in US hip-hop – name any major state-side player who’s put out a record in the last ten years, and chances are Just Blaze has been in some kind of contact with them.

Through liberal use of colourful soul samples, and taking an obvious tip from Dilla’s inimitably dragged out style of beats, Smith crafted a sound that not only successfully flourished in as mainstream a medium as commercial hip-hop, but contributed heavily to its overall direction throughout the 00s. Obvious examples include his work with a then seemingly unstoppable Jay-Z, through which Smith would (quite literally) lay down a blueprint for many of the similarly-minded producers that would follow in his wake, including local boys like Rustie and Hud Mo. Tracks like Hovi Baby are alive with the kind of frenzied, saturated synth work you can hear on the former’s Glass Swords.

Smith’s creations remain so fresh and accessible as to ensure his continuing relevance, with recent projects including work with Kendrick Lamar, a collaboration with Baauer, and upcoming tracks on Pusha T’s debut album, due out in August on GOOD music. His work is a testament to the mutable qualities of pioneering sounds: forward-thinking need not necessarily mean challenging, high-minded, or elitist. Sometimes you just have to ask what sounds best coming out your car.     

California based label Brainfeeder have been synonymous with exciting, left-field releases ever since founder Steven Ellison (AKA Flying Lotus) started putting out tracks by the likes of Samiyam and Ras G, before later going on to release work by Martyn, Lapalux, and animated FlyLo alter-ego Captain Murphy.

23 August sees the Scottish debut of Thundercat, real name Steven Bruner, following this June’s release of the much-lauded Apocalypse. The former Suicidal Tendencies bassist turned LA beat scene producer signed to Brainfeeder in 2011, with the gorgeous Golden Age of the Apocalypse. His bass playing remains central to his sound, in which he decorates his Pastorious-style modal workouts with a dazzling array of sun-kissed synths, melancholic vocals and tweaked, innovative drum samples, as likely to displace a listener as they are to make one move.

Bruner makes no attempt to disguise the origins of his sound, born out a place where, in the romantic imagination, the sun is always on the verge of dipping below the horizon, and the party’s starting in an hour or two. This, however, from the mind of man whose father played with Diana Ross, who lost friends to gang activity in high school, and, if his interviews are anything to go by, has been exposed to an incredible range of music from birth, from Mahavishnu Orchestra to the Final Fantasy OST. His Thundercat moniker gives him the perfect opportunity to reconcile these influences, unlike his session playing, of which Snoop Dogg once asked, ‘man, do you have to play all them notes?’

August will also see the return of Andrés, a legendary member of Theo Parrish’s Rotating Assembly collective, and DJ Haus, head of the Youtube channel-turned-globally-recognised-label Unknown to the Unknown. UTTU’s original approach celebrated what was and remains for many a disconcerting truth about electronic music in our time - that everybody’s making it, and if they’re not, they easily could be. The channel began uploading home-made videos featuring tracks sent in to DJ Haus that had yet to be released on any label - as he suggested in an interview for XLR8R in 2012, "Everybody says 'It's the end of the music industry,' but it's just a different way of absorbing sound, really… This is just pure fun for me."

UTTU furthered a tradition of playful behaviour that has always been present in the UK underground, accompanied by a wry sense of humour that has worked its way into grime’s lyrical content, early dubstep’s obnoxiously minimal synths, and UK Funky’s sample-work and remix choices. DJ Haus is set to bring all this to the Saint Judes basement, along with a healthy disregard for any remaining genre-borders, and the earthly, life-affirming love of jam-trax he showed on this year’s Thug Houz Anthems.

Sync In Squares themselves are an interesting proposition, with an approach that differs from many of their Glasgow contemporaries. Some in recent years have tied themselves to particular acts, and others have purposefully chosen to limit what they do to within a certain sound. Sync In Squares have eschewed any kind of definitive identity in favour of focusing their efforts on creating ideal spaces for experiencing the innovative, exciting sounds due to visit this August. All of the above will be hosted in the city’s smaller venues (Poetry Club, Berkley Suite, etc.), all tickets are cheap, and all feature local support, including the likes of Nightwave, Inkke, and Simply Richard of Numbers. There’s little in the way of pretension, nor is there any grand statement on what the modern club should consist of.

Rather, Sync In Squares seem to make a humble and necessary admission that the current underground landscape is a bewilderingly complex place, which due in part to the internet operates on a kind of quantum level whereby experiments that might have remained localised can now yield global influence. This is something to celebrate, and whilst wrapping your head around it remains a gargantuan task, any attempt to do so is bound to yield interesting results.