Stilz - Love Confidential

Stilz

Love Confidential
Neferiu Records; 2013

3,7 out of 5

If you happen to be a DJ in Calgary you probably heard the name Stilz. He has collaborated with other artists such as Impirical, Shep and Mantrakid and he is also one half of the instrumental hip-hop group Second Architect. Stilz just released his follow-up to The Bachelor from Venus entitled Love Confidential which is a bass heavy instrumental hip-hop album that reinvigorates the genre by intertwining samples and that creates an emotional center sometimes devoid in this genre. Not unlike Flying Lotus, Stilz is able to create songs that keep you involved and have enough going on that you don’t mind the omission of lyrics. The songs are rather short and sometimes I wished the songs stayed a bit longer but overall there is a good ebb and flow with the album.

“Here with You” kicks off the jams with smooth, stylish beat that feels good going down. The mood is chill despite the intricate rhythms that begin to kick in. One of the songs “If I Gave You My Love” contains a time stretched vocal sample repeating the phrase “If I gave you my love” in front of a couple of nice sounding guitar samples. A standout on the album is “You Ask Me.” One of the most original tracks in my opinion was “Postcards” which contained one of the most interesting sounding manipulated samples I have heard in awhile. It sounded like an arpeggiated synth with both on and off the beat rhythms. There are plenty of good tracks on this album and I was impressed with the broad pallet that was used but somehow managed to sound whole. Fans of Prefuse 73 and Flying Lotus need to listen to this one.

official website

bandcamp