The Q4 - Sound Surroundings (2010)

I like this album. A lot. I've been putting off posting about it because I can't decide how to best to write about it. I still don't really know, so I'll just ramble. Sound Surroundings is the debut album of The Q4, a collaboration between three Dutch producers, Arts the Beatdoctor, Sense & STW. I love love love jazz samples in my hip hop (well, jazz in my anything really), so this was a real treat to listen to for me. Each track has so much going on since there are so many interesting layered samples that truly do seem to surround you with their subtle nuances. They describe their music as having "a very moving/musical feel to it, to the point that every track becomes somewhat of a soundtrack on itself," and in that aspect, they have definitely succeeded.

My occasional issue with purely electronic instrumental albums is that there are often points where the tracks seem to drag and lose my interest, and I'll zone out near the middle or end. In Sound Surroundings, I feel like there's just so many different things to talk about, and it achieves a good balance between instrumental and vocal tracks. That said, it does at times seem like it lacks coherence with all the different contributions, but the tracks all stand so strong on their own that I really can't fault the album too much for it.

With the many guest vocalists on the album, ranging from rappers Pax and BLS to singers like Curra Suarez, each track seems to take on its own personality, even when backed by the incredibly consistent production. Oscuros Angeles, featuring Curra Suarez combines Latin influences with Suarez's haunting vocals to evoke a haunting feeling of doom, foreboding that would perhaps accompany an angel of death. Pulse, featuring BLS has a relatively sparse beat accompanying his rambling, overlapping vocal tracks to depict the thought processes of a man, tired and angry with the world. The slow instrumental Split Personality (Pt. II) is an instrumental track with an introspective, ambient feel that then progresses seamlessly into Trouble With Me, which picks up the pace and builds into a lively dub track that closes the album.



Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. One of these Days
3. Oscuros Angeles (ft. Curra Suarez)
4. Demagogues (ft. Pax)
5. Look Again
6. Going Down (ft. Terryman)
7. My Own Advice (ft. Unorthadox)
8. Pulse (ft. BLS)
9. Split Personality (Pt. II)
10. Trouble With Me
11. Trouble Dub

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