Fall heat #1: 'SwimSuits' by Seattle's Stevie and Sam
Cider on the stove, fall heat through your speaker. If you're still with us, "SwimSuits" is an interesting, messy album that ought to be a landmark in the local rap scene this year. Stevie (Cheung) and Sam (Wishkoski) are brave new producers exploring the current genreless time in music, competent enough to mimic their heroes almost perfectly, willing to try out industrial noises and strange arrangements. Stevie raps and sings over glossy, noir-ish electronic textures, sometimes joined by other vocalists. The tail-end of "Kama Sutra IV" is a collage: wet-sounding handclaps, slow-ringing bell, squiggly vocal sample. Or Stevie and Sam might just be on their own level. The slow, architectural hip-hop beat feels like it's floating at sun-roof level, each drum note and piano chord a passing skyscraper. Kama Sutra