Premiere: Electric Street Orchestra - Natives EP

Back in February Dummy spoke to Waajeed – the Detroit-born producer, DJ and unofficial spokesman for all things honest, forthright and real – about the various new projects he was undertaking and his big comeback marked by a two hour special on Benji B’s BBC Radio 1 show.

There’s the Bling47 alias Jeedo, the three piece band Tiny Hearts, the playful Jodeci homage Jeedeci and the Detroit-centric dream team Electric Street Orchestra, which features his work with Mad Mike Banks, DJ Skurge, Theo Parrish and DJ Dez Andres. Waajeed spoke at length of the influence of Detroit on his life and work, and in particular the process of gentrification currently gripping parts of the city in a bid to re-figure it as a post-industrial landscape. This theme directly inspired Electric Street Orchestra’s ‘Natives’ EP, which is officially released this week through Waajeed’s own label Dirt Tech Reck. We wonder when he takes a break, too.

The ‘Natives’ EP is a surprising and rich progression for Waajeed in the years since his work with Slum Village and J Dilla. Whilst many will know him well for his hip hop productions, ‘Natives’ sees the Electric Street Orchestra revitalise a fire within Waajeed and display his lifelong love for Detroit techno throughout; the title track with its eerie acid thrashes, Serpents with its foreboding mantra woven through jittering percussion and Reconstruct with its delicate orchestral unfurlings, which is also remixed by Waajeed’s band Tiny Hearts. It’s a welcome return to form for the producer, and we’re delighted to bring you an exclusive first listen to the EP in full below to celebrate its release. You can also buy the EP here.