Boom Bip

At the very least there's one thing that can be said about Lex Records: they care about their product. Unlike classic Cold Chillin' platters, Lex's vinyl is solid, with a nice weight and only one 45 rpm track per twelve-inch side. In other words, it's some of the best-sounding quality you're going to get for a psychedelic Boom Bip beat movement on vinyl. The packaging is also nice, with a simple green and white design and an infuriating built-in coffee mug stain; at least until you pull that sturdy slice of vinyl out and notice that the sides are labelled "A[bove cup]" and "B[elow cup]," differentiated on the vinyl with a picture of the top and bottom of a full coffee cup that dominates the centrepiece of each respective side. Both sides of this single are productions in preparation for Boom Bip's upcoming solo debut on Lex. Boom Bip really pays attention to the details of a song, creating music that sounds more like live instrumentation than actual sampled products. On the A-side, long-time collaborator Dose One sings his way through more of the same old, same old, creating a track that little differentiates itself from much of Dose's recent output. Although Boom Bip succeeds with a soothing guitar beat, it's the B-side instrumental track "Closed Shoulders" which leaves the 1200 Hobos producer free to get freaky, creating lush new fantasy worlds. Dominating this drugged-out composition is the sound of a homemade Theremin floating through the stop-start pattern of Boom Bip's smoothed-out drum & bass sound. Luckily, rumour has it his new album will be more of the latter and less of the former.