Philip Grass “Find EP”

12 Mar 2014 — Trey Reis

I used to see that Dropping Gems label diamond around the streets of Portland, although sometimes I was confusing the symbol for the ones on those Diamond Supply Co hats. What is that, Pac-Sun? Like Pacific Sun? Not in the Pacific Northwest. It might not actually rain here all the time like we tell everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s sunny. But through the gloom shone that diamond. And these people were dropping gems.

Philip Grass have been beating the rainy streets of Portland, OR for a couple of years now. I remember seeing them play one of the Dropping Gems showcases at the Holocene, and everyone basically went nuts when they started sputtering 50 Cent samples into the mix. Implants from Massachusetts, the duo met at the University of Massachusetts, before relocating to the Pacific Northwest. There, alongside the burgeoning beat scene, they began releasing material as small as Soundcloud streams or compilation contributions and as large as entire self-released albums, and now label-backed EPs like this one; the four track Find EP from Dropping Gems.

Each of the tracks sputters with that familiar Philip Grass fog of jazz clips of department store piano and flute swirls. The beats sprinkled in like rain drops from clouds of soft, gray synthesizer hums. Dance music for the soft carpet of the bedroom floor. No birds outside. Those twitters are coming from the speakers.

The digital version of the EP is available now from label’s Bandcamp page. RIYL: Softening the blow of what’s left of your winter blues.