Drip-Hop genius Jimmy V brings his newest here on his 17:17 Dreamy V EP. I’ll accept the #Sneakergaze hash tag given on the SoundCloud, as altho it is decidedly hip-hop, it has many shoegazy qualities, albeit with much fresher shoes than what Kevin Shields was probably wearing back in the day. The production comes off like the track was recorded in some sort of urban cave, with Jimmy himself acting as the siren who draws the listener into its ever-more-syrupy depths.
I might draw a Dean Blunt comparison here — if asked “Does he have an amazing voice?” I mean, no. “Mind-blowing lyrics?” Not exactly. But something about the whole combination of minimal beat, almost whispered, probably free-styled lyrics works altogether. Isn’t it annoying when music critics call something “more than the sum of its parts?” So I won’t do that here. But it is really dope.
The vocals are laden with edits and effects in and out of intelligibility, which is just as well, since the words/sentences themselves seem to be meant more for their sonic than lyrical qualities. Critique that if you like, but it doesn’t seem to give you any problems when Cocteau Twins or MBV do it, eh, eh???
Elsewhere on Dreamy V the lyrics do take on more importance, but I prefer these earlier tracks when the album itself takes on all the hazy qualities of the drugs which were clearly very crucial in the album’s creation process. Check the album on his soundcloud and scope the opening sample track “Daydreaming” produced by DRK.
• Jimmy V: https://soundcloud.com/cats-kill
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