- Bobby Draino operates on the fringes of Vancouver's increasingly spotlighted dance music scene. He has a relaxed, lounge-inflected approach to house that aligns him with Mood Hut artists like Pender Street Steppers and Cloudface, but has released on 100% Silk, Adelaide Soundworks and 1080p instead. He returns to 1080p for his debut full-length under new alias Journeymann Trax. Smoke Tape is Draino's most languorous and stoned output yet, using the steady repetition of house as a way to zone out completely. He takes the laid-back feel of Vancouver's current wave of dance music and slows it down to a sticky stupor, nicely highlighting the thread of New Age and ambient that runs underneath it all.
On Smoke Tape, Draino writes his melodies in long, broad strokes. Rather than take the lead, they tend to sprawl out in the background ("Inside"), letting the rhythm section do all the heavy lifting. And like his fellow Vancouverite Jack Jutson, Draino has a way with basslines that makes them the focal point of each track. Where Jutson's are peppy and disco-informed, Draino's are rambling and dreamy, tracing out melodies in a wonderfully roundabout way. They provide solid texture amidst formlessness: on "Black Forest," the bassline gets almost squelchy, grounding the floatiness with earthier sounds. The bass on "Dengue" provides gritty contrast to the relaxing birds and dulcet melodies above. But there's no better example of his method than opener "Jade Tour," where the bassline groggily stumbles around, happening upon a beautiful melody as if by accident. Part of its majesty, and the light psychedelia of "Canopy," comes from D. Tiffany—another underrated Vancouver resident—who complements Draino sound comfortably, as if they've been collaborating for years. She gives Smoke Tape's best moments a faint flair that breaks up the lava flow of Journeymann's more blunted solo compositions.
There's also an appearance from another one of Western Canada's leading lights, Khotin (who was responsible for one of 1080p's defining tapes, last year's Hello World). He shows up on "Arboreal Jam," a spacious recline flecked with harp sounds. Shimmering and incandescent, the strings stick out on Smoke Tape, which otherwise comes at you through a hotbox haze. The record remains constantly (and pleasantly) out of focus, getting more foggy as it rolls along. By the time we reach the breathtaking "Ice Sheets," the drums have fallen away completely, leaving only a distant drift to latch onto. Chords surface like beads of condensation, and the feeling over "Ice Sheets" is one of complete calm. It aligns Draino not just as another talented artist in a busy and en vogue house scene, but also as part of a Pacific Northwest lineage that includes ambient artists like Loscil and The Sight Below.
Tracklist01. Jade Tour feat. D. Tiffany
02. Arboreal Harp Jam feat. Khotin
03. Inside
04. Canopy feat. D. Tiffany
05. Black Forest
06. Dengue
07. Ice Sheets