Tiga & The Martinez Brothers - Blessed EP, Pt. 1

November 16, 2018 - Turbo Recordings

The end of the year is near, and year end feelings abound. Looking at the past in 2018 is difficult because bad things happened, and that is tough to look back upon. Good things also happened but they are done and in the past, which is tough as well. Also looking at past trends, there is a good chance that December will have no new Turbo Recordings release, so this is it for 2018. It’s only fitting then that Tiga, Steven Martinez, and Chris Martinez teamed up to deliver this last invocation. 

‘Blessed (Dirty Mix)’ opens the project and is the track that has been circulating the dance circles vigorously the past few weeks. It immediately asks the question “Why aren’t there more things labeled (Dirty Mix)?” It’s a tag that needs to be explored, for certain. The track is exactly the perfect level of simple. Layered percussive instruments work together to provide a beat for Tiga’s voice to speak lyrics that many people around the world can understand. Though the words can be understood, the qualitative properties of the lyrics are too vast to unpack here. All that needs to be known is that Tiga, and by proxy any listener, woke up feeling blessed, and can thus proceed to get dressed in clothing. It’s a fantastic thing to imagine.

‘Aphex N Girls’ goes a little harder and turns up a little more. If one assumes that “Aphex” refers to Cornwall producer Richard David James a.k.a. Aphex Twin, then the pieces easily fall into place. Who, if anyone, doesn’t like Aphex and also girls? This track opens the project up a bit more, exposing some of the nitty gritty studio session mood to great effect. When turned up very loud, this track certainly must make Tiga, and by proxy any listener, feel good.

‘Cleopatra’ examines the envelope of the sandbox a studio session can embody. A minimally decorated beat was laid down for Tiga and the Martinez Brothers to build upon. At this point, I imagine Tiga pulled out his Marry Poppins bag, impossibly full of filtered inspiration, quirky phrases, and entertaining literary consonance. This feeling continues on into ‘Late Nite,’ my preferred spelling of the time period and the final track of the project. Song elements are played with with reckless abandon. The sense of “being there” is evoked, only surpassed by the reality of not having been there. These tracks are fun, but they do not hold up to the showstoppers of the two opening acts.

The “Pt. 1” addition to the title along with the public declaration of a “Pt. 2” in the works gives hope for the end of this year and the beginning of the next. Tiga and the Bronx born DC10 Duo are making the music needed in this chapter of the world. Tonight, for one night, we are truly capable of being blessed. 🍍