DJ PayPal: Sold Out Vinyl 2LP

Debut full length from DJ Paypal on Brainfeeder! For Sold Out, the Teklife affiliate and Mall Music founder delivers 8 tracks of playful, next-level footwork on double LP. From Brainfeeder –DJ Paypal is one of footworks most fascinating figures. His playful moniker and internet-savvybranding hint at a healthy sense of humour, but his music is as lush and soulful as his fellowTeklife producers. As the leader of Mall Music, the label home to peers like DJ Orange Juliusand DJ Mastercard, hes outlined a new take on footwork laden with lush synthesizers and hi-definition sonics, while most recently his work on has pointed towards an interest insoul and disco. All of these factors come into play for Sold Out, his debut for Brainfeeder and a record that takes him beyond the pale of footwork into something all his own.Sold Out is a showcase for everything Paypal can do at 160 BPM, and it taps into the deeplineage of soul, hip-hop and jazz that defines the Brainfeeder discography. Hes alreadymastered the silky Teklife roller, embellishing the formula with hip-hop sensibilities, funky synthruns and vocoder lines. He tackles jazz on Awakening and Ahhhhhhh, where horn samplescurl around his spastic drum programming. On Slim Trak, he chops and dices an Africanrhythm and lets it roll to a boil until grunts and yelps are bubbling up between the drums. On thearresting title track, he arranges bright, clean tones like a Philip Glass footwork symphony.
Ever the collaborative spirit, Paypal hooks up with familiar faces like Teklife members DJ Earland Taye, and some names outside the world of footwork, including Tielsie and Keiska, who assist on Sold Outs elegiac closing track. The lengthy, patient Say Goodbye is unlike much else in the Paypal catalogue: it develops slowly and sadly before shooting off into an ecstatic outro, hinting that footwork doesnt always have to be about frenetic drums or hectic samples.Its the mark of an emotional thread that runs through an already diverse oeuvre and reaches a new, complex peak with Sold Out.

• gatefold sleeve
• digital download included
• music label: Brainfeeder 2015

reviewed by Cookie 12/2015