Album Review: Brava by Brodinski

A French house producer who rarely offers French house music, Brodinski launched his career as an electro don who perfectly fits with Bugged Out! or Southern Fried, but his later work is left-field hip-hop of the highest order, the kind of stuff that attracted mavericks like Danny Brown and Kanye West. Here, the indie electronica DJ with two productions on West's monolithic Yeezus LP makes his album debut with an unexpected and excellent blast of fractured tracks, some so skeletal and wobbly they sound like the Chicago genre of footwork as heard through a nu-disco remix. "Bury Me," with Maluca and MPA Shitro, is a good example as it jerks like a zombie while shining like a diamond, but a more downtown version is "I Can't Help Myself," where SD stutters over trap booms and blasts before disappearing in a whirlwind of rave-rap beats.

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It feels prescient to admit I did not come to Brodinski’s Brava from a place of mental wealth. I was sure I’d come across his name in my years of internet sleuthing, but before he became involved in the lengthy credits of Kanye West’s Yeezus I was unaware of his merits. For those unaware (or perhaps perturbedly aware) of his contributions, he provided what are likely the femurs and clavicles for “Black Skinhead” and “Send It Up”.

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