By: Rebecca Douglas

The first track on LoBounce’s new album Bouncetown greets you with the voice of Sneaky Sound System’s Connie Mitchell. “Hello, hello, hello, hello,” she sings. Each word echoes into a puddle of rippled welcomings. LoBounce, or Chicago native Giancarlo Pasquesi, adds slow, sexy percussion, a loop of brassy boldness, and then mixes in his signature ingredient: a technique that he refers to as “drippy bass.” The song, “Isolated Encounter,” is partially an experiment with the wide-ranging abilities of electronic bass and partially a deconstruction of Mitchell’s popular electro-pop song, UFO.

LoBounce uses Bouncetown as an opportunity to unravel traditional genres of music. He then threads them all together with a “bouncy,” unique bassline and some head-bobbing, lips-pursing beats. In the album, he tears apart a surprising range of samples from pop to hip-hop and reggae to classic rock. He uses Jennifer Lopez’s 2002 hit “Jenny from the Block” and Michael McDonald’s 1982 song “I Keep Forgettin’.”  He even throws in a little Destiny’s Child and some vocoded Lion King dialogue. Like “Isolated Encounter,” each song begins slowly. Pasquesi layers on sheets of manipulated sound until he gets to the perfect point to add his bass. From that point on, each song picks up into a dance-worthy audio party with engaging melodies woven over the newly worked pieces.

For the most part, LoBounce sticks to the manipulation of one popular song per track (unlike artists like Girl Talk who play with multiple recognizable samples at a time). LoBounce seems interested in picking apart and reinventing these individual pieces. One of the most successful examples of this process is his reworking of Justin Timberlake’s song “My Love” from his 2006 album FutureSex/LoveSounds. LoBounce uses a really beautiful and haunting melody to flatter the Timberlake’s chopped up and reconstructed falsetto. At points the piece seems “housey,” and at other points it’s full out drum and bass. While he gives Timberlake’s song these new dimensions, LoBounce makes sure that the piece never loses it’s connection to hip hop or to popular music.

LoBounce’s approach to remixing is unique, but the noticeable element of Bouncetown is his creative use of bass. On all of the tracks, without exception, the bass surprises you. It’s so unique that seems like it could be conscious and alive—like something organic rather than mechanic. It will vanish from the piece for a little while and then, it will come back in, full force and relentless, as if it had been waiting for the perfect time to reintegrate itself into the song. The bass seems to playfully comment on the rest of the music and by doing so it adds this really rich, full quality to the songs. LoBounce’s adjective of choice, “drippy,” is a great word to describe it. It melts over the music and changes the flavor of each song, but it can also be really bouncy and flirty and then again tough and solid. It’s transformative without being distracting and it will definitely make you want to get up and dance.

BOUNCETOWN

Download the entire LoBounce - Bouncetown album for free.