Be With

Be With is psychedelic soft-rock filtered through a hip-hop consciousness. Its hazy atmospherics might drift aimlessly if they weren’t grounded by a cast of groovy drum tracks and melodies. Koushik envelopes a number of disparate elements in his layered soundscapes, but his songs succeed because they feel entirely organic. The delicate vocals, swinging jazz drums, and textured keys and guitars all bend and sway in unison, as if all Koushik had to do was gently blow together the ingredients of his favorite records. The fragmented hip-hop of Madlib and J Dilla can be detected under the layers of sound, as can the cryptic jazz sensibility of Sun Ra, but Be With occupies its own cozy space. Even as it defies categorization, Be With is pleasant to the ears in a way that similarly minded productions aren’t. New Age music for the hip-hop producer? In any case, Be With should appeal to anyone with an ear for warm and spacious sound design, from the Association to My Bloody Valentine; Stereolab to Pete Rock.