By: Chris Gedos

Rhode Island native Abraham Orellana performed under his moniker araabMUZIK on Friday night, 11/11/11, as part of The Mondrian Sessions at the hotel of the same name on the Sunset Strip. Although the LA scene has long since moved to Silverlake and Echo Park, The Mondrian Sessions are making The Strip relevant for lovers of independent MUZIK.

AraabMUZIK’s highly regarded Electronic Dream was released over the summer. It shocked and even upset some of his admirers, for on his LP the producer oftentimes sits back and allows the original song to play through for seconds at a time. However, araabMUZIK’s previous beats for Cam’ron and others are more heavily spliced, which I view as a simple issue of producing a single song vs. an entire LP, a transition which araab handled with ease. These are big boy beats but also stand alone songs, not an easy feat for a producer barely of drinking age.

The set was performed inside, to the left of the main entrance of the hotel. It would’ve been cool to see it outside by the pool (where I saw Dirty Beaches back in August), but ten foot ceilings and a tiny bar add to the house party vibe. The crowd (50% hip-hop, 50% hipster) wilds out- the same people that sway gently at concerts in Echo Park are losing themselves in a way they’d make fun of in a different environment. The music weaves its way through several genres in several seconds, too pop for hip-hop and vice versa, infectious music flaunting conventions. It’s so packed I can only catch glimpses of his fingers furiously tapping at the MPC which he’s wholly dependent on. My friend asked, “Where is the musicianship?” He wasn’t a fan. Oh well, beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

My main fault with the experience is more of a misgiving regarding the culture that has proved fertile ground for this current DJ/Dubstep/MPC/Protools (one big umbrella) revolution: it epitomizes self aggrandizement at its most unadulterated. To believe one is the purveyor of a musical revolution is dangerous naiveté. I ran home to put on the second side of Bringing It All Back Home, as I craved a slice of Dylan’s master social commentary:

Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you

(From It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding)

araabMUZIK $$$ (Twitter) (Facebook)

RATING: 8.4