Live Review: Mickey Pearce ‘Warm Barzz’
Mickey Pearce is back with ‘Warm Barzz’, a percussive mash up of sharp snares, a four-on-the-floor shuffle and heavy baseline thuds inspired by 808 beats.
MICKEY PEARCE is back with ‘Warm Barzz’, a percussive mash up of sharp snares, a four-on-the-floor shuffle and heavy baseline thuds inspired by 808 beats.
The song opens with a soft and enticing set of warm chords, similar in sound to that of Andras & Oscar’s Café Romantica EP. The track then grows into a haze of white noise, alluding to the bootlegged style of Pearce’s production; electronic digital blips and clips tremor in and out, spasming into a piano chimed melody. The ominous dark beat gives way to a gently piano that slows the pace right down, the drums fade off and it’s suddenly an altogether lighter and more harmonious affair – it’s the warm bars that the song’s title promises.
The drum beat is elemental to the song; it’s simultaneously the structure, rhythm and somehow offers a melody of sorts too. ‘Warm Barzz’ is strongly percussive, essentially a layered entwining of low-fi production beats, exemplar of the Swamp 81 label’s signature sound.
Plug into the latest music with our FREE weekly newsletter
It’s all about house, techno and footwork. SWAMP 81, to whom Mickey Pearce has long been associated with and which is named after the police lockdown operation of the Brixton riots in 1981, has succeeded in its intention to move the UK dance scene away from dub and heavy EDM. ‘Warm Barzz’ shows off the more minimal techno sound which is informed in equal parts by the low-fi house music coming from Berlin and gritty realism of London grime.
Whilst Swamp 81 is something of a cult, the label has been very inconsistent in their actual release of music – it’s praised for its vinyl only approach, but suffers from tardiness and a slightly lackadaisical approach. 81, a new offshoot of the parent label, seeks to change this with regular monthly and digital releases on the label’s Facebook page. Mickey Pearce is joined in good company by the likes of Zed Bias and Paleman on the imprint, and ‘Warm Barzz’ will be released via 81.
Words by Katie Rowley
SEE ALSO
More From Our Network
