- This intense EP highlights the troubling aspects of HAAi's anything-goes sampling.
- HAAi's history with psychedelic rock, her first love, is well documented. Its swampy textures and muggy atmosphere have never been more present than on Systems Up, Windows Down. Her debut EP for Mute, it's 40 minutes of immense electronic music layered with field recordings made from HAAi's travels.
But that travel theme highlights a troubling aspect of HAAi's work. On the techno-leaning "CHONKIBOI," she interrupts the lead-footed beat with what sounds like a feverish African chorus. Without any credit or context, the choice feels tone deaf. It doesn't help that the song is named after a meme, trivializing the sample. HAAi also samples a jangly vocal taken from a trip to Marrakech on "It's Something We Can All Learn From." It's hard to tell if she's highlighting the voice or making fun of it.
Systems Up, Windows Down points out both the potential and the problems in HAAi's approach. The way she approaches music is breathless and touristic, sweeping up bits and pieces of what she encounters into hulking techno behemoths. At her best, like on "6666" (written for Glastonbury's Genesis), the effect is exhilarating. It's pure energy, heft and psychedelia compacted into techno. But elsewhere, HAAi's anything-goes sampling feels awkward, trading creativity for exoticism. In his review of last year's debut EP, Matt Unicomb said that HAAi "draws from a range of intense sounds without finding one of [her] own." Systems Up, Windows Down gets closer, but its best tracks suggest that she might find that sound closer to home.
TracklistA1 Don't Flatter Yourself Love
A2 Stop Looking At Me Swan
A3 6666
B1 CHONKIBOI
B2 It's Something We Can All Learn From
B3 Systems Up, Windows Down