The first of two beat-tapes slated to appear over a two-month period this summer, Forget is also the first substantial new material from Portland, MA-based producer Fyvr since 2017's excellent Almost Happy. Showcasing a slicker and more refined sound, it certainly marks the producer as worthy of continued interest, but it sadly lacks what made his last effort so compelling. Its status as a beat-tape as opposed to a proper artist album may be the clue here, as the format is meant to highlight a producer's beat-making and production skills — but surely not at the expense of so much.
What's missing here are the fabulous G-funk bass lines and hazy, improv synths that gave Almost Happy so much personality. Left to fill the void are bland and generic samples that don't, in any way, have the same impact. That said, the production is definitely crisp, and Fyvr still has a way with thick, polyrhythmic beats, a skill perhaps just as much his calling-card as his synth abilities. The latter are sorely missed however.
There is an overall professionalism here, though, as well as a few memorable moments. A martial-arts monologue about channelling the fluidity and power of water, married to a mysterious and slightly menacing Boards of Canada-esque synth, catches the ear early on, but nothing as distinct comes along for a while (in fact, the next track opens with a sample of 1951's "Unforgettable" — a fairly stolid and uninspired choice for an underground beat-tape in 2018, although it's obviously meant to link up with the album's title). "If Only" is another highlight, its hazy end section offering a brief glimpse of Fyvr's more melodic work, and it's followed up by "Who Cares," which features some undeniably cool textures.
And frankly, Forget does have its share of cool textures. Whether that's enough for the average listener uninterested in parsing beats or a sample's compression rate remains up for grabs however — and certainly not all beat-tapes are as sparing of an artist's distinctive charms as this.
(Young Heavy Souls)What's missing here are the fabulous G-funk bass lines and hazy, improv synths that gave Almost Happy so much personality. Left to fill the void are bland and generic samples that don't, in any way, have the same impact. That said, the production is definitely crisp, and Fyvr still has a way with thick, polyrhythmic beats, a skill perhaps just as much his calling-card as his synth abilities. The latter are sorely missed however.
There is an overall professionalism here, though, as well as a few memorable moments. A martial-arts monologue about channelling the fluidity and power of water, married to a mysterious and slightly menacing Boards of Canada-esque synth, catches the ear early on, but nothing as distinct comes along for a while (in fact, the next track opens with a sample of 1951's "Unforgettable" — a fairly stolid and uninspired choice for an underground beat-tape in 2018, although it's obviously meant to link up with the album's title). "If Only" is another highlight, its hazy end section offering a brief glimpse of Fyvr's more melodic work, and it's followed up by "Who Cares," which features some undeniably cool textures.
And frankly, Forget does have its share of cool textures. Whether that's enough for the average listener uninterested in parsing beats or a sample's compression rate remains up for grabs however — and certainly not all beat-tapes are as sparing of an artist's distinctive charms as this.
