Coming off the recent successes of his instrumental Duration project and Vertical Form release of Antagonist Survival Kit, Sixtoo teams up with fellow producer Stigg of the Dump for another instrumental project under the name of Villain Accelerate. Sixtoo has steadily released captivating work over the last two years. His production has been considered some of the best in underground hip-hop, while garnering praise from other sample-based genres as well. Stigg’s input into this experiment adds another dimension to the music, contributing further knowledge of instrumentation and layering.
When listening to Sixtoo, it’s hard to avoid feeling an overwhelming sense of the bitter coldness that marks the winter season. His music is mechanical in its aesthetic. Industrious. Bleak. Steel. This feeling is also found on Maid of Gold, but the visions of inner city industrial Canadian landscapes are replaced by a dark, cavernous scenery.
Atmospheric noises lead into songs, prior to layers of bass, guitar, piano, and other random instruments which gracefully get placed into the mix. Sixtoo and Stigg exhibit cohesive sample layering, done so well that it rivals that of Mr. Josh Davis. To describe individual tracks would be pointless. The entire album flows together wonderfully. Drum breaks with great depth alongside drum programming with an experienced sense of the art are enough to keep interest and admiration peaked on their own.
Stigg of the Dump has now surprised and impressed us with two releases. His Still Alive at the Veglia Lounge was an overlooked album with a flash of greatness that wasn’t fully appreciated. That album, coupled with this collaborative effort, leaves us craving more from Stigg. Meanwhile, Sixtoo continues to perfect his craft, coming into his own and churning out innovative and progressive work at a frantic pace. Instrumental hip-hop, drum & bass, and electronica fans alike will be sitting somberly in anticipation, waiting to see where these two producers will take them next.
1. Table of Context
2. Maid of Gold
3. Things Told
4. Paper, Boxcutter, Rock
5. Postcards
6. Duppies
7. Cracktivity
8. Revisit
9. Herd Whispers
10. Rookie Card
11. Worried Look
12. Laurels Canyon
13. Pitch Control
14. Surgery
15. Verify
16. When I Was Your Age
More about: Villain Accelerate
