“Slip n Slide” from J-Style is a straight-up banger that hits hard, right from the start. It’s an exercise in swagger, a track that refuses to hold your hand and show you the ropes. You know when you press play that it’s going to be tight, but J-Style could not care less about your expectations. No warm-up. No teasers. Just in your face, hard-hitting swagger and confidence. Production values are certainly up there in tempo from his previous releases. This kid is over making music for the masses and while I can respect that, I love it when an artist goes with instinct and what they like and it works. And for the most part, it does work well here, with that attitude jumping out through every kick and crisp synth loop.

The production is precise, glitchy, and textured, while the baselines and grooves really leap out and find a way to accentuate the track. The track overall sounds fast and dirty while in the foundation we can hear the essence of a stripped-back techno vibe, something that J-Style must have been tinkering around in the late 80’s/early 90’s, when he was first cutting his teeth and producing tracks as Pinocchio with Marius Andres. However, it is taken here to an altogether faster, more brash and less restricted direction, reminiscent of a true “underground” vibe. The drops are punchy, no doubt about that, but what’s more interesting to me is that J-Style has not bothered to include any real ‘hooks’ or expected release points. This is less a track and more a sequence that jumps from A to B without holding your hand.

Best of all is the fact that approval is no doubt a concept that is completely foreign to J-Style. This track, just like many of his previous cuts, is his way of saying “take it or leave it”, but of course we all know that’s a challenge we as electronic music fans can’t refuse. That, to me, is the exciting bit about “Slip n Slide”. It doesn’t need to have any meaning or justification. It is fast and loud and plays with an aggressive swagger. And as such, it’s very hard to stop once you’re into it.

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