Very few artists in this industry are able to move from conception, to the tops of charts in the span of only a few months. Even fewer artists manage to pull off this feat with their debut release on a label as revered as Minus. It’s no wonder that so few artists are anything like Hobo. At the age of twenty-four, Joel Boychuk is still young, but the swiftness with which he has navigated his way from what was just an idea, to achieving wide acclaim, has shown the vision and steady-hand of a veteran. Boychuk’s debut EP as Hobo, From A to B, was released on Minus in December 2008 on vinyl and digital formats, catapulting the name Hobo onto the techno scene and into the world's top DJ’s sets. Nearly one year later, and after a whirlwind eight months of touring alongside techno’s biggest names, Hobo finally makes his highly anticipated return with his second EP, Trackz.
Boychuk admits that he had little in mind while writing the eight tracks included on his aptly named new release. Where From A to B was about harnessing specific experiences and translating them into music as a means of release, Trackz is more about having fun and experimenting. Writing over the course of autumn 2008 and winter 2009, Boychuk fell into a very easy routine of activity. With the rare occasion of having most of his friends in the same city at once, Boychuk would spend his nights out with them jaunting around the countryside, getting into all sorts of trouble, only to balance it out by isolating himself in his studio during the day.
The A-side starts out with Eazy; a simple track whose identity is found in the subtle movements of a delay unit as it undulates over a deep bass line that has one purpose: making bodies move. 3rd Dimension follows with a darkness and lightness that playfully jostle for attention before coming together to create a new form that is greater than the sum of its parts, but no less familiar. Flipping the record over reveals a slightly harder edge that perfectly continues on the trajectory already set in motion. Touch adds a can of funk to the techno stew pot with a bouncing bass line that occasionally gets taken over by a straight-edged, driving rhythm that techno is so known for. All the while, a familiar vocal hook rises and falls like a voice lost in the crowd, yet with no desire to be anyplace else. Hobo closes out the vinyl with Symptom - a track so infectious with its monster bass line and disease ridden hook that it fights for its life while destroying everything it comes into contact with. The trip doesn't end with the vinyl, however, accompanying are four digital-only bonus tracks, which include the percussive techno cuts, Closer to the Bullet and Exit East, as well as the funk excursion, Howard Watson’s Jam, and finally, the genre bending, Orange Dyno.
After the fifty minutes of Hobo’s latest journey, listeners will be infected by his shape-shifting sound, which has only one remedy - getting your hands on everything that this quickly rising artist has to offer.
A1. Eazy – 7:30
A2. 3rd Dimension – 5:57
B1. Touch – 6:22
B2. Symptom – 6:23
Digital Bonus Tracks:
Orange Dyno – 5:26
Howard Watson’s Jam – 5:54
Closer To The Bullet – 6:16
Exit East – 6:46
Release Date : December 14th, 2009 (physical)
December 16th, 2009 (digital)
http://www.hobotracks.com/
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