Afrikan Sciences drops two songs on ESP Institute that build the end into the beginning
Holding time in one hand and space in the other, New York multi-instrumentalist and producer Afrikan Sciences is on a mission like no other. Following on from a trio of self-released albums over the last 12 months, he now pays a visit to drop an EP on the ever evolving hi-fidelity imprint that is ESP Institute.
Not one for holding back, Sciences conjures two interdimensional slices of savoir faire for a debut EP that you can’t help but admire. Packed full of oddball ambience and purist jazz undertones only he can summon. Both cuts are such far cry from your average slice of 4/4 club music – it really makes this record all the better for it, an intoxicating brew that stirs up broken rhythms and invokes the spirit of Sun Ra.
‘Have It Tall’ on Side A bears all the hallmarks of an improvised jam. Rapid-fire percussion and off-kilter chords sway precariously around each other’s orbit as additional instruments carve out their own place. Met with sporadic bursts of sharply edged bass, rhodes piano and frenetic drums cuts in and out. It shouldn’t at all work but yet magically does.
‘Daily Gates’ over on Side B goes a little slower. Introduced by a rich vein of meandering synth that layers across a long and thumping double bass for the introduction, instrumentation slowly takes hold 4 minutes in as a set of clean rimshots, hi-hats and snaps bring a little order to the fray. A guitar interjects with a dream like melody, offering a shot of optimism before returning head deep in the cosmos .
