isaac basker: swishin' & dishin'

New York City, USA, 2014. A community filled with amazing shit and amazingly fucked up shit. This Yin Yang is an ever-present part of life, and it is this contradiction that Isaac Basker seeks to take on with Swishin’ & Dishin,’ his sophomore release on Play It Say What Records. On A1, “Swishin’ & Dishin’,” Isaac references NYC basketball legend, Walt “Clyde” Frazier to define the city’s Yin. Starting off like a certified banger; a simple “bleep” blasts the track over a thumping kick and rhythmic percussion, as if attacked by a penetrating crossover dribble. Yet Isaac then drops his trademark melodic chords to turn the track into an authentic deep house groove. With A2 Plan B Recordings boss DJ Spider provides his latest remix for Isaac, helming “Swishin’ & Dishin’ (DJ Spider Mix).” The original is then obliterated into his classic raw, deep sound. Hard kicks, obscure female vocals, hats and snares form the basis of the track as we then get slowed chords to tease us until deeper sounds and syncopated percussion elevate the listeners mood before bringing the track back to the remix’s original rawness. B1, “Slumlord Billionaires (5Pointz Of Light Mix),” Swishin’ & Dishin’s most dance floor friendly track, takes on the Yang of the city, using the to be demolished graffiti mecca 5Pointz as a point of reference. Yet, this is an uplifting build up banger of a track emphasizing human resilience in the face of doom. Booming drums start the song off until a single fluttering melodic chord drops. Then syncopated claps, and vocal hits arrive challenging “the powers that be” to further enhance the song’s call for dance floor resistance. Then there is “American’t.” With B2 Isaac, takes dark analog keys and syncopated techno sensibilities over a simple eerie baseline to further emphasize the Yang. A manipulated vocal later emphasizes this further and another layer of angry, reflective keys drive the operatic finale of this definite New York release.