Phoenecia

by Sean CooperUnlikely heirs to the legacy of Miami hip-hop represented by Maggotron, 2 Live Crew, Tony Butler, and MC A.D.E., beat decomposers Phoenecia combine bass musics boom with the glitchy, angular, digitally processed post-electro of Autechre, RAC, and other artists associated with the British Warp label. Originally releasing music as Soul Oddity, producers Romulo Del Castillo and Joshua Kay formed Phoenecia in 1997, when their sound took a more minimalist turn, focusing on complex percussive figures and fractured rhythms. Preceded by a pair of releases as Jeswa (Kay) and Metic (Del Castillo) for the Miami-based Schematic imprint, Phoenecias first track appeared on Detroit label Interdimensional Transmissions From Beyond compilation series; Roba recalled their Soul Oddity work while stripping out the melody and a good deal of clutter, leaving only the buckingest of robotic beatbox fragments and a squirting, jittering bassline. The Randa Roomet EP, their debut proper, appeared through Warp shortly after, and featured four tracks in a more expanded, vaguely dancefloor-ready style. A handful of remix and compilation tracks later appeared through Chocolate Industries, Nature, Alien8 and Schematic, which the pair took over operation of in 1997 and on which they released 1999s OddJobs and 2001s Brownout and Odd Job Discrimination. [See Also: Soul Oddity]