SWL #45: Justin Timbreline, "Hyde"

John Judge’s work under the Justin Timbreline pseudomyn doesn’t blaze, it smolders. From his earliest releases on CTPAK, to his excellent midyear mix-tape, “Ass To Shake Your Music To”, the one commonality that all of his work shares (other than his distinctive tech-house influence) is an indelible sense of confidence. It’s not brash mind you; Judge certainly never pushes, but he never rushes either. Adhering to the “elegance via simplicity” maxim, his music is steady and hypnotic with builds that are more thick and savory than opulent, and breaks that never miss an opportunity to resonate. “Hyde” is the first track he’s released in several months and it definitely doesn’t disappoint. Labeled somewhat unassumingly as “subtle variations on a 4/4 groove over 5.5 minutes”, the track has a distinctively desert feel to me. No doubt this is at least in part due to the recurring vibraslap (i.e. the rattler sound), but also in part to the sizzling static that appears midway through track—conjuring images of rocks baking in the midday heat. I may be reading into things, I usually do, but whatever the intention, this track is intoxicating; push play to find out where you’ll end up.