Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s SPRING in the South, sun shining, I’m sitting on my front porch, dogs barking, neighbors waving as they walk past. My gaze fixates itself on the grass in our front yard, which is pretty fucking long, so long in fact that we’ve borrowed a weed whacker to do the job, as it’s too long for your conventional mower. Despite our obvious laziness, I’m still excited to use the weed whacker. The job will be more tactile than simply mowing, more hands-on. The sun will beat down on my face, I’ll be swinging a modern day scythe back-and-forth, repetitiously plowing through the fresh verdure of the best season.
Speaking of “repetitiously,” let’s speak of it in the context of music! Because let’s face it, music is why you’re here, right?
One of the many wonders of music is the art of repetition, that a song can make listening to something over and over not only tolerable, but enjoyable. This new track from NYC-based producer and SWIM TEAM member Color Plus provides a compelling example. It’s centered around a hard-hitting drum loop, largely sans-melody, nothing TOO complex, and yet, I can’t get enough. It’s mesmerizing.
It helps to listen to the track from the vantage point of the dancefloor, where repetition and cyclical movement reign supreme. Artists and DJs have creative discretion to toy with the mechanism of pattern, increasing/decreasing its presence, sculpting their art with oblique references to variation but seldom deviating from the core tenant of litany. Perhaps we enjoy it because rhythm and patterns are rules of nature; perhaps because repetition is an instrument of nostalgia; or perhaps just because, fuck it, it feels good.
But don’t take my word for it — listen to Color Plus craft rhythmic beauty for yourself below: