Pursuit Grooves

The latest release from Toronto, ON-based beat-crafter Vanese Smith is caught somewhere between hip-hop, funk, soul and techno. Over 11 instrumental tracks, save for some sporadic vocodering and vocal accenting, Smith blends her unique take on abstract grooves into a journey guided by deep, heavy kicks that yield to directional signals provided by her tribal-like toms and often '80s-laden synth textures. Smith's talent on Broadcasting A Sensory Sequence, like many of her previous releases, lies in her ability to tap into primal rhythms while simultaneously exploring uncharted rhythmic patterns and combinations. Broadcasting A Sensory Sequence is body music, in the sense that the listener never questions the directions in which Smith leads, guided instead by the innate drive to synchronize muscle movements to her tantalizing grooves. But along this largely physical journey, Pursuit Grooves exposes the listener to a completely different take on creation (see the linguistically unclassifiable but undeniably enjoyable collages that make up "Late Night Conditioning" or "Dearest Nature"), which is extremely inspiring to those who are eager to tackle new perspectives.