Montreal's Patrick Holland (aka Project Pablo) inaugurates his personal imprint Verdicchio Music Publishing with Come to Canada You Will Like It, an instructive look back at some of his earlier work, unreleased until now.
Given its provenance, it's perhaps no surprise the material here is less refined than his more recent work, but it's no less enjoyable for that, and displays his already solid funk-house foundations nicely.
Like its pastoral cover art, the album sports a sunny, feel-good vibe throughout, with warm analogue tones filling in the gaps of its sometimes sparse arrangements. Indeed, most tracks consist of just a handful of elements, but almost always with a liberal dose of improv synth on top. Holland has a real talent for this, and, when coupled with his well-judged pacing and confident funk roots, it's frankly enough. "Just A Thought" is a good example: a simple, shuffling beat with lead and bass trading funk goodness back and forth.
This funk affiliation helps makes sense of the fact that every now and then Holland's work recalls the sun-bleached sounds of Devonwho and Fyvr. Although these artists meld their hazy excursions to fractured hip-hop beats (as opposed to Holland's smoother, groove-oriented rhythms), they draw from the same funky well, and the similarities are worth noting for those looking to make sense of the bigger picture.
Newcomers might want to check out Holland's more recent material first — or at least hit up his SoundCloud — but those fresh from appreciating his recent There's Always More At the Store EP should definitely check out Come to Canada You Will Like It, as it offers the same amiable rhythms and funky synth instrumentation in prototype.
(Independent)Given its provenance, it's perhaps no surprise the material here is less refined than his more recent work, but it's no less enjoyable for that, and displays his already solid funk-house foundations nicely.
Like its pastoral cover art, the album sports a sunny, feel-good vibe throughout, with warm analogue tones filling in the gaps of its sometimes sparse arrangements. Indeed, most tracks consist of just a handful of elements, but almost always with a liberal dose of improv synth on top. Holland has a real talent for this, and, when coupled with his well-judged pacing and confident funk roots, it's frankly enough. "Just A Thought" is a good example: a simple, shuffling beat with lead and bass trading funk goodness back and forth.
This funk affiliation helps makes sense of the fact that every now and then Holland's work recalls the sun-bleached sounds of Devonwho and Fyvr. Although these artists meld their hazy excursions to fractured hip-hop beats (as opposed to Holland's smoother, groove-oriented rhythms), they draw from the same funky well, and the similarities are worth noting for those looking to make sense of the bigger picture.
Newcomers might want to check out Holland's more recent material first — or at least hit up his SoundCloud — but those fresh from appreciating his recent There's Always More At the Store EP should definitely check out Come to Canada You Will Like It, as it offers the same amiable rhythms and funky synth instrumentation in prototype.