You know what I know about Deru (nee Benjamin Wynn)? Pretty much nothing. For all of those tubes that the internets are made of, it seems as if I’m wholly incapable of doing anything other than being sent a link to download this new album from the good folks at Mush Records. All that the man’s webpage says is that he’s from Los Angeles and is involved in film and television scores. Beyond that, Deru has even done work with a ballet company as a composer while releasing two albums prior to this, his latest work.
The lack of a public persona has obviously not affected the LA based producer seeing as he’s released singles and the like for everyone from Ghostly International to some other labels that I can’t pronounce properly. But for Deru to be involved in music up to his neck while maintaining only the most minimal presence out here on the interwebs is a testament to the man’s musical prowess. Instead of involving himself in a series of ridiculous, self aggrandizing interviews and web features, this producer has apparently just hunkered down in order to create a pretty dense piece of production in the form of Say Goodbye To Useless.
The clever and self effacing title aside, what Deru really gets himself into is somewhere between the realms of that good ole IDM and a traditional hip hop boom bap. It can’t be said to be the most forward thinking album. And it won’t really change a thing about the genre, but having said that, Say Goodbye To Useless probably achieves more than it sets out to initially. There aren’t any club bangers here to speak of. In lieu of that Deru works out a great many ambient sections that pair well with the drum beats he’s programmed – when they eventually kick in.
There’s no way by which to disapprove of “Basically, Fuck You.” And while I may have at first been drawn to the song because of its title, the stuttering static that serves both as drum beat and melody, to a certain extent, falls somewhere left of even Daedelus or Dabrye – that’s some pretty hefty company. But one’s gotta figure that if a producer gets tapped by Mush for a release, he (or she) possesses some talents not found elsewhere too frequently. A few chiming bells get sifted in alongside what sounds like the video game equivalent of a cash register chiming to pad out the remainder of the track as bounces to a conclusion.
It seems as if the release of Say Goodbye To Useless might mark a proper, better distributed beginning to Deru’s career. Even if this disc comes in as the third full length from the SoCal producer, the fact that such a well respected imprint as Much is getting involved portends only positive omens. Hopefully, this slab will get a proper follow up. And since the folks over at Mush were able to coax two releases from Bibio in a pretty short amount of time, wrangling another full length from Deru might not be out of the question. I hope. - Rap Talk |
