Subeena: Wrong For Me
Opit

The fourth (digital-only) release on her own Opit imprint finds Sabina Plamenova's Subeena project in fine form and developing apace. Though one hesitates to read too much into a three-track release of EP length, Wrong For Me does suggest that Plamenova's confidently staking out her own particular area within the ever-expanding electronic dance music firmament. Her sensual music balances many elements into a polished hybrid that feels fresh and forward-thinking yet immediately accessible too. In the title cut, the warm blur of a looped Rhodes pattern paves the way for a languorously funky beat pattern and equally laid-back yet soulful vocal (Subeena herself ?) in a tune that's got more in common with classic house music than it does UK funky or some other style-of-the-moment. The rave-ready “End of Reason,” by contrast, merges acidy gurgle, ghost-like voice fragments, and the locomotive sizzle of hi-hat patterns and thrusting percussive swing into a towering banger. Sleek and velvety by comparison, “Space of Flow” touches down on multiple bases with a pounding 4/4 kick pattern as the primary engine driving the cut's writhing electronic motif and stuttering snares. In all three pieces, Subeena's command of imaginative beatsmithing helps her music make the strong impression it does.

April 2011