Track of the day: October 28th

Rhythm & Sound feat. Savage - Smile



Basic Channel duo Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus have been responsible for some compelling and truly beautiful music, but nothing simultaneously touches the neural centres controlling both aesthetic appreciation and contemplation like ‘Smile’.

Released under their Rhythm & Sound alias, usually better known for its work with Paul St. Hilaire, Von Oswald and Ernestus cloak Savage’s barely audible ruminations in tessellated layers of static wash; the entire history of dub’s studio experimentation locked in an eternal battle with itself as a metronomic pulse drives it ever-forward. For something so minimal it’s strikingly emotionally charged, a sense of aching loneliness captured in tense chord stabs and Savage’s striking admission, ‘Every time we fight/We lose’.

Rarely has a track composed largely of white noise sounded so fully realised.