AM Yard by Snad
Up next on Brooklyn’s Scissor & Thread is the latest EP from Snad, aka Shyam Anand (also known as Spandrel), the Berlin-based artist whose discography already spans labels like Smallville, Minibar, 20:20 Vision, Phonica AM, TerraFirm, Running Back, Cabinet, Kimochi and Dungeon Meat with remixes for names including Seafoam and Chez Damier.
A trusted selector and producer in the underground, Snad has steadily built a reputation for deeply considered productions that balance classic inspiration with his own forward-thinking edge.
The AM Yard EP opens with its title track, a warm, hazy cut rooted in the kind of bassline architecture that recalls Chez n Trent’s Morning Factory but reshaped with Snad’s signature dreamlike touch.
Anticip8 anchors the release with a more direct energy, rolling, insistent and focused on the floor, balancing stripped-down drive of dusty samples wrung through his digitakt with just enough harmonic flourish to pull the listener inward.
On the flip, The Pursuit follows in a slightly different mode, drawing on experimental vocoder techniques and filtered percussion creating a hypnotic push-and-pull that feels as intricate as it is understated.
Rounding things out, label heads Francis Harris and Anthony Collins, under their Frank & Tony alias, reimagine The Pursuit with their Housebeat Remix, extending its atmospherics into an even deeper headspace that glides effortlessly into late-night territory.
Tracklist
| 1. | AM Yard | 7:49 |
| 2. | Anticip8 | 7:23 |
| 3. | The Pursuit | 8:29 |
| 4. | The Pursuit (Frank & Tony’s Housebeat Remix) | 7:07 |
Credits
I wrote the AM Yard record over the course of about 1 year. I wrote the pursuit last winter after sampling some records and programming some filtered drums in an attempt to get a hazy high/mids effect. At the time, I had been heavily experimenting with my DP4 Vocoder and achieving dreamy pads and textures with that, which is what formed the basis for the track. Anticip8 and AM Yard were written in February this year within a few days of each other. AM Yard also used a more refined version of the DP4 vocoder technique. One of the basslines was heavily inspired by Chez n Trent - Morning Factory, the tune was of course written very early in the morning after a long night in the studio. The drums on Anticip8 were an experiment in sampling some of my favorite records to see the types of sounds I could get from my newly acquired Digitakt. If I had to hazard a guess, the lead pad was from my Orbit 9090 coated in reverb and delay and the backing textures from the DP4 as well.
All three tunes are good examples of the hardware studio itself being an evolving "patch," a philosophy I learned from hallowed hit-maker Colin Johnson of Night Sea Journey fame.
