Hudson Mohawke Ryders Single Cover Art Square
Scottish producer prodigy Hudson Mohawke has made a cottage industry out of booming bass, sky-high aggressive horns and industrial synth tones. It's an approach that made TNGHT an essential act drew the attention of GOOD Music head honcho-in-chief Kanye West. And so when you push play on Mohawke's latest single offering, "RYDERZ," confusion is what comes first. Over a looped single line from D.J. Rogers's "Watch Out For The Riders," the single opens with more breathing room than we've come to expect from the 29 year-old. The sample circles a few times, perhaps a bit off kilter, but at a rate and intensity that feels like devout restraint. Has Hudson changed his game?
Not at all. It takes only a minute for a hornet's nest of snares and and hi hats to to come at the Rogers sample from every direction, cutting it to a million ugly, haggard shreds. On "Ryderz" Mohawke attacks his own groove with such sheer aural violence that it's almost impossible to breathe for a moment as it all goes down. And yet, somehow, the track is anything but a mess. HudMo has chosen such a solid, lush groove to loop that the track rolls on like a cloud of bits and pieces that still somehow keeps its shape. Were "Ryderz" any longer it would probably reach some sloppy, sad demise, but as it stands in perfect beauty; a freeze frame of bullets breaking through brittle glass.
