Mesquin EP by Depth Affect (Review)

I’m left curious as to where they might go from here.
Mesquin EP - Depth Affect

The 4 tracks on Depth Affect’s Mesquin EP were actually culled from a 16-track demo titled Mesquin Eye, in which the duo of Remy Charrier and David Bideau “[explore] different aspects of electronic hip-hop.” Be that as it may, I find their music actually veers closer to Boards of Canada territory, with solid, funky beats propelling cinematic, eerie synth melodies. However, Depth Affect’s music has a grittier, grainier feel to it, lacking some of the smoothness and polish of Boards of Canada.

However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Dialect” finds the duo cutting up a couple of MC samples and laying the slice n’ dice over pulsing beats and sparse electronic spangles; meanwhile, analog keys possessing the texture of slush gloop away underneath, adding an extra layer of grey. On the other end of the spectrum, Melodium’s remix of “Mesquin Eye” lightens things up a fair amount, bringing some IDM treatments to Depth Affect the way they funked up Melodium’s music.

At times, the duo’s music sounds a bit too basic and simple — the cut-up MC samples are a nice touch, though perhaps a few more exotic sounds might liven things up even more. Honestly, it’s hard to really get a grasp on the duo’s music with only 4 songs, and I’m left curious as to where they might go from here.

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