DESCRIPTION:
The fourth installment in East Van Digital's mountain crumbling EVD Bass series expands its scope well beyond the 604.

Invoking the wrath of Manchester's high wizard of electro dub, "Tears Of A Savage" sees Danni Skerritt channeling his Dirty Freud juices into minimal breakbeat. The downward bending organ-like lead gives the beat an impertinence, a nervous energy, while processed feminine R&B vocals lend a haunting quality to the proceedings.

"Zeal" sees a Squamish connection as Bass Coast curator Andrea Graham (a.k.a. The Librarian) hooks up with singer-songwriter Jana Lahti. The track has a kind of Road Warrior vibe, with haunting vocals, a brooding bassline, and a frantic lead mimicking the percussive dub stutter that all add up to a post-apocalyptic epic.

Born in Barbados and raised in Toronto, long-time West Coast resident Alec "Riddim" Fernandez may have called his contribution "The Gangsta Trap," but the results land squarely in drum and bass territory. The track starts off innocently enough, with disembodied hip-hop hype echoing while a thuggish beat slowly builds up, hitting an atmospheric plateau before chilling out, building up, and exploding in smooth drum and bass, sending the listener out on panned gunshots. It's an interesting juxtaposition of rap bravado and funky, melodic production.

"Lighter Than Air" sees Trypta (brothers Keith and Greg Lostracco) working with fellow Nelson resident Candace Marie and Vancouver's Jesse Davis Selkirk (a.k.a. Sleepwreck) on a most cerebral composition. With vocals double-tracked and pitch-shifted for alien quality set to a sluggish glitch-hop beat and occasional acoustic guitar riffs, the track has an ineffably organic quality. It seems to breathe with the listener, drawing you into its downtempo lullaby.

With four such dissimilar tracks joined only by their common and unquestioned worship of rib-rattling frequencies, this compilation clearly shows that East Van Digital is a label with an open mind and open borders.

Beatport: http://www.beatport.com/release/evd-bass-4/1423445
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/evd-bass-4-ep/id943591070
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6PqVq2OwCctS0t6kNwvuc6