[Atavisme]

Pépé Bradock’s catalog falls into a few different modes. There’s elegant deep house (the famous “Deep Burnt,” the achingly beautiful “6 Million Pintades” EP, most recently “Mandragore”), hip-hop and electro-inflected grooves (several tracks from his early “Un Pepe En Or” EPs), and eccentric experiments (the fucked up “Rhapsody in Pain”). Though Bradock seems to have left overt hip-hop behind while maintaining the influence in subtler ways, deep house and experimental electronica are in full effect on his excellent new 12″, Swimsuit Issue 1789.

“Path of Most Resistance” starts out with a beat reminiscent of Lil Louis’ classic “Video Clash” before piano chords and Bradock’s trademark vocal cut-ups appear. The stomping rhythm blends synergistically with these poignant harmonies, while delicate melodic insinuations emerge; occasional reductions to just percussion are nearly shocking. “CU @ Minna & Lafayette,” though not quite as stunning, mines the same territory with remarkable results. The addictive bass line and jazzy chord progression here are amended with fluttering synths and string samples, filtered until their approach has visceral effects. Bradock’s methods have been refined over the years to a masterful, unified style, a synthesis of programming and sampling, achieving an idiosyncratic yet widely appealing result. Though the stuttering, collage aspect of his work can often make his tracks bear a similarity to micro-house, Bradock maintains a humanist impulse more in line with hip-hop producers like the late J Dilla.

“Unapologetic Weightlessness” closes out the record with an example of Bradock’s, well, unapologetic insistence on avant-garde experimentation. The track is a loping, beatless synth workout that seems drawn from the most outré jazz fusion. It’s unlikely to be on regular rotation at your local club, but it might blow some heads if used carefully. In a way, it is most representative of Bradock’s artistic mission: an uncompromisingly postmodern, plugged-in revision of soul music, equally representative of sonic traditions as it is of its creator’s passionate, slightly twisted genius.