MoMA Ready - The Other Side/Pressures EPs (DOUBLE FEATURE)

June 5, 2020 - Self-released

MoMA Ready aka Gallery S. aka Wyatt Stevens has taken time to internalize, conceptualize, and externalize the events of the past few months into two separate but related projects. The New York audio/visual artist and filmmaker has been hard at work the past few years running lifestyle/label Haus of Altr, releasing tracks under his two aliases, and appearing on compilations from labels across the electronic music world.

The Other Side opens with ‘The Child Inside,’ a stripped down jaunt orbiting an abstracted female vocal. Memories of nights long past are given room to breathe as percussive elements push in and out of the spotlight; the vocal cuts through the mix but is almost always delayed beyond recognition, always on the tip of the tongue. Flattened metallic pads drone on in the background lazily but always with the sense of potential energy that keeps the tension level just right. ‘Far Out’ pushes the energy level up with a driving beat that quickly dives under the skin. The pumping percussion is kept in a bubble while the rest of the track submerges underwater, washed out melodic riffs and waterlogged electric piano notes float dreamily around another female vocal track. The lyrics are more intact this time, evocative and familiar, though the source still sits right on the edge of memory.

Stretched and limber, Stevens opens the door on ‘The Other Side,’ a tapestry of breaks one step away from chaos but clearly not unbridled. The track seems to conduct its own electricity, in part to the ever rising feeling of the sampled strings and woodwinds with moments of silence used to show the glow that has been building up. The room is now buzzing with potential energy, warped walls and floor and ceiling radiating with the ghosts of dancers past and future. Stevens takes this moment to sit back down, eyes closed, and bring it all back in, single focus, dhāraṇā. ‘Hi Tek Breaks’ issues forth from this meditation, an improvisational take on DJ Hi Tek + Talib Kweli’s ‘The Blast.’ Polyrhythms collide and separate in whirlwind, pausing momentarily as if to catch the listener dancing. 

The energy is passed back to the room one final time for ‘If I’m In Love’ featuring work by fellow New Yorker Bass Bear, a cheeky jukey booty house slapper that makes wonderful use of Christina Aguleria’s ‘Loving Me 4 Me.’ Expectations are once again teased out as the track jumps from hi-octane drum machine bliss to the near somber twinklings of Aguilera’s musings. It feels like a track that’s always existed, just waiting for the right moment to bring a dance-floor somewhere, sometime to the next level. 

Pressures jumps straight from the hot tub into the pool. The icy chill that ensues works to separate the two EPs sonically; the energy here is constant from The Other SIde but the direction and source are different, restlessness turned anxiety. ‘Uneven Pressure’ cuts the lights and draws the curtains, a single strobe-light of a crunchy kick heralds forth twitchy percussion and bouncy bass. This time a male voice, perhaps Stevens himself, dots the landscape, spoken word and pseudo-instruction providing anchor points to hold onto as tension builds and acid synth loops cry out. The mood intensifies with ‘Reacher,’ a track that provides little room to breath between its razor sharp drum loop and the mellow-but-sinister low bell synths. ‘Reacher Dub’ drops the floor by an octave but keeps the room pulsing. The emphasis is slightly different from its undubbed version, but there’s no time to analyze exactly what the shift has caused. 

Lights back on for the final track ‘Monica.’ Crispy ASMR vocal chops bob up and down in the water; eyes closed again, time to dance. There’s no shortage of sonic elements to gravitate towards, the sharp two-tone lead plays seductively with the less present bassline, melodically-inclined percussion passes the rhythm back and forth with the main drum loop, everything existing to guide the body and mind to a state of tension release. 

These two projects come from a place of deep uncertainty, a time that feels like it is just beginning on some days and never ending on others. The push and pull of energy on these tracks feels both personal and universal; a desire to connect again, or maybe for the first time, with those around us. To feel, to comfort, to know, and to remember. As Stevens says, “change is inevitable, we will meet it halfway.” Thank you for the hope. 🍍