There are enough reasons to believe that Knxwledge’s Bandcamp-legacy will ensure his pension. In the previous years, he has uploaded hundreds of beats as EPs or records for a dollar each. Hence, it’s somewhat remarkable that he has only released three »commercial« records on actual labels – his first two on All City Dublin the latest »Hud Dreems« on Stones Throw However, those releases are real bangers in terms of their quality, even though it’s quite tricky to rank »Hud Dreems« in the overall context of Knxwledge’s works. His online releases are so high-quality that it’s hard to say why these beats should be even better, making them deserve the physical release. As always, the beats are pretty heavy on samples but they don’t push the respective sample to the foreground. To Knxwledge, a sample is more of an instrument which he manages to weave into his carpet of sounds. The often syncopated rhythms come across as quite jazzy, the general mood is rather souly, while drums and bass line tell of hip hop. It is the usual Mediterranean cocktail that Knxwledge has remained faithful to, with every track still tasting a bit different. In short, the record stands in perfect line with the previous works of the 26-years-old musician. With 26 tracks in 36 minutes, each song has an average length of 1:24 minutes. According to Knxwledge that’s enough time to get the idea behind the beat across. It might not always be user-friendly, especially, when you really like a beat while listening, but that’s the artistic decision behind it all. »Hud Dreems« is diversified, entertaining and without any redundant squiggles.
Hud Dreems
