First off, who really thinks releasing any kind of project on January 1st (unless it's the legal purchase of recreational marijuana in Colorado) is a good idea? I mean, that's typically a day off for everyone. The majority of the world unplugs and uses it as the last day of the holiday season to unwind and be lazy because it's back to the grind on January 2nd. Leave it up to Mr. Carmack, the guy at the forefront of this whole "I'll drop music whenever I want" movement, to give the big middle finger up to convention and drop a 17-track project, Dimebag, on New Year's Day.
Before we dive into this collection of tunes, let's get something straight: Anyone who's calling this an album, including Mr. Carmack, is delusional. This is a producer's beat tape in the traditional sense. Tracks don't necessarily flow together. Things sound half-finished or just a tease because the producer only wants to share so much with the listener. Madlib and Dilla basically made everyone scared of dropping beat tapes because they could fart out beats that made everyone else's Grade A material sound beyond meh. And regardless of how you view this collection of material, I think we've finally found the next producer to carry on that tradition in Mr. Carmack.
Although this is a beat tape in my mind and there are a couple tracks that are way too long with less than stellar ideas making them drag out, I can't stop listening to it. This dude really just gets it on all levels of production. Even the half-developed ideas are so cleanly mixed and with impeccable sound design. The swing that his percussion has can't really be taught. Either you feel it and can replicate things sounding unquantized or you can't. Dilla and Madlib are masters at this and it's easy to tell that both producers are a huge influence on this young Hawaiian. There's also so many different feels on this collection too. Rowdy future sounding club bangers, like the OutKast sampling "Tour For Days," sit right next to some of the most soulful chill vibes you'll ever hear from anyone (the criminally short "Don't Help Me" and "1994" come to mind immediately).
Look, we've been telling you for longer than a minute that Mr. Carmack was next. And we'll probably continue to because he's better than pretty much anyone right now. He's baited you a bit with Dimebag, as there's only a couple previews out there and you can't hear the whole project before you purchase. But if you're already a fan, you're not going to be disappointed. To the uninitiated out there, this collection is also a great starting point to hip your ears to the future. It's only the second day of the new year, but it's already looking like this dude is about to own 2014.
