Jabu, the duo of producer Amos Childs and MC Alex Rendall, are among the lesser-celebrated members of Bristol’s shapeshifting Young Echo collective, a crew whose solo and collaborative artists and projects include Sam Kidel, the Tri Angle signed Vessel, Ishan Sound, Killing Sound, and grime producers Kahn and Neek. Yet they’re also among the crew’s most singular projects; their take on hip hop is spacious and melancholy, infused with a dub sound system engineer’s sense for space and impact, and all built around grainy sampled melodies that loop awkwardly, as if caught in a time-trap. Following cassette releases for Astro:Dynamics and No Corner in 2012 and last year’s ‘Move In Circles’ 7", last month they released their debut 12" EP through Ramp, titled Kwaidan, a suite of smoked-out songs and instrumentals that flirt with silence.
To accompany the release of the EP the duo have recorded a half-hour long mix tripping through similar spaces and consisting mainly of their own material, which we’re pleased to be hosting – listen via the embed below. It follows on from Quietus mixes from fellow Young Echo members Zhou (aka Amos Childs and Cris Ebdon), Vessel, and Sam Kidel, aka El Kid.
