Dj locks - "Latona Doumbia"

Whether vehemently violent or habitually honorable, American football is a game of inches.

None of which is meant to take away from the competition itself.

Unlike other incarnations on the sports, ties, draws, and other miscellaneous statements hardly ever occur. The final score reigns supreme because only by the accumulation of points is a given competition's conclusion reached. Individual performances do matter. Effort is, of course, of the essence. But numbers are resilient and cannot be silence. It is their presence - numbers! - that give value and meaning to the actions and decisions that make up a game. So while the concept of a inches is (nearly) novel to rugby's concussive cousin, it is not terrible unique to the National Football League's championship game.

Ricardo Lockette came spectacularly short to solidifying a championship victory. But it was the manner, rather than the action itself, that made the end of Sunday's extravaganza so astonishing.

But, the present subject is not an athlete. Rather than discuss a Seahawks wide-receiver, the author pivots toward a different coast. Within the Black$ea is a certain Dj named locks, most prominent for a selecting and organizing mixes that range anywhere from ten to twenty minute. Be that as it may, locks can also compose a song all his own; and so far in 2015, the beat-maker has follow-suit. The key difference, though, is style, or a change thereof. Listers need to look no further than the quaintly, if not bizarrely titled, "hard techno mix.2015." Released two weeks ago, the downloadable track is more hardstyle/rave influenced than anything Belleville Three related. Nonetheless, the mix is intriguing in an experimental sort of way. The possibility of new ideas being worked is evident in the technical manner - borrowed, perhaps, from Karfox - in which undecorated melodies are mixed over a hybrid beat.

Yet, what follows is not nearly as adventurous.

While Dj locks has worked with slower tempos before, such has not been the case on original tracks. Proving to be an formidable exception though, is "Latona Doumbia," Released early in January, the two-tiered introduction - long in appearance, but not in practice - provides listeners the brief, central melody over four beats. Primarily electric guitar, this first portion is eventually accompanied by a dissonant harmonic synth. It is during the second potion that pace is established. Briefly accompanied by periphery percussion, the hi-hat quickly proves indispensable. Once the head begins, a tarraxo beat heard. Reduced to kick/hi-hat, the rhythm comes to include a djembe hitch on quarter notes and synth during the first "verse" section. After a drum-dree interlude, however, the song changes appearance. The "Kizomba Tarracho" tag references more than the soft melody. As the beat is reshaped to include clap/hi-hat/kick, a flute is brought into the melodic fold. Bass, too, makes an impression and the groove is found. The mood is heavy. Limbs are relaxed; and better yet, the opposing sections loops once more around the head.

Well worth the download, "Latona Doumbia" successful enough to make anyone say, "Shout out to my real Africans out there"

- John Noggle