Everyone should have a flip side—a part of their life that perhaps stands at odds with their main concerns and enables them to express and explore a completely different side of themselves. So, if Tidal Water is known for making deep, meaningful, insightful music and exposing falsehoods and hidden global workings, hooking up with Papa J is where the more fun stuff happens.
I’m not in any way suggesting that the music that Papa J & Tidal Water’s Digital Noise collectively make shouldn’t be taken seriously, but it is music that is designed to entertain rather than inform, blow off steam rather than blow the cover of the dark forces at work in the world. It might not change the world but it will certainly make your night.
Lyrically, you can see the song’s tone laid bare; this is celebratory stuff, extolling the virtues of making music merely for the sake of it, of art being its own reward. To this end, these two opposing musical creatives come together to make very attractive music. Tumbling, drum ‘n’ bass grooves and garage moves, skittering beats and warped sonics, depth charge basses, and dynamic vocals all come together, less in a specific and genrically recognizable style, more as a sonic precis of contemporary dance music through the ages. Or to lay down the template for the next chapter in the clubland story.
This is the sound of alternative rock adding weight and complexity to the dance experience or perhaps dance music getting rock music to lighten up. It is the sound of the analog world being replaced by digital deftness. It is the sound of the underground club exploding out of its confinement and heading into whatever the dancefloor equivalent of progressive rock is!
But more than anything, it is the sound of musicians ignoring boundaries, genres, styles, expectations, and comfort zones and just doing what comes naturally—making noise. A digital noise. And a damn great digital noise at that!
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