Straddling the thin divide between beat-driven ambient soundscape and
instrumental hip hop, and even bordering New Age at points, /h/t/a/ of
Columbus, Ohio – a place that I have been to one time but barely made an impression
on me – crafts computer soundtrack pieces for moderns. I’m also going to give
/h/t/a/ cool points for the logo. I like it! It hovers above a purple-tinted
photo of a cloud formation, like a beacon from some otherworldly or
extraterrestrial place. It’s a bit ominous, frankly, but in a good way.
Like a mashup between Reservoir Sounds’ A.M. Breakups and someone like
Chungking Mansions, /h/t/a/ surely knows his way around a beat and a melody,
and they punctuate each other throughout Stratus,
his first official release. The tracks don’t last terribly long, and are often
sketches of what could be larger pieces. Some, like side-B standout and
Tobacco-worshipping “Sweep,” are just begging for a rapper to sling sick verses
on top of. “Nicotine” has a similar vibe – for all of its ten seconds when
music plays. (Nine seconds of it are silence.)
Some of it plays out like delightfully wispy vaporwave, like “Why Did
the Centipede Hurt” or “Stratus,” both of which foreground synthesizers while
the latter incorporates a slow jam beat/bassline. These moments are feather
light, as if some teenage wizard shouted “Wingardium leviosa” (that’s
“levi-O-sa,” not “levio-SA,” jagweed, and only in your best proper English
accent) at the songs, and they just hovered there, unsure of their new airborne
abilities. I’ll tell you what they do – they relax the sheez out of you, that’s
what.
The cassette itself is a deep lilac purple, and comes in an edition of
25. I have lucky number 7. And did you know? /h/t/a/ stands for “hanging tree
algorithm.” Now you’re as smart as me!
No you’re not.
--Ryan Masteller
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