You probably last heard singer Paolo Escobar lending his vocal chops to Spekulation’s triumphant Town anthem “Home of the Mighty.” Now, Paolo goes for dolo on his new single “Get Gone,” which features production work from Spek and a wicked drum and horn arrangement courtesy of Saba Samakar and Nate Omdal, respectively. “Get Gone” bops along with an economy of catchiness familiar to fans of producers like Mark Ronson.
Seattle-based producers/composers Nate Omdal and Spekulation scored the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed short film Enemy Within, an engrossing allegorical quasi-documentary featuring four of the most accomplished dancers in their respective genres. Even if dance isn’t necessarily your “thing” — and I’m certainly no expert on the art form — this film will hold you rapt for its entire 18 minute running time. That’s owed to the incredible ranges of motion exhibited by the film’s principle dancers who interpret Omdal and Spek’s vital instrumentals beautifully and evocatively. Enemy Within The Original Soundtrack shows the impressive range of these two Seattle musicians, both known for their work in hip-hop; here their compositions are also informed by jazz, classical and electronic music.
Spekulation knows a lot about proper placement, whether it’s the interpolation of live instrumentation in his songs — like the 20-piece horn section in his latest Pac NW tribute anthem “Home Of The Mighty” (featuring MC Perry Porter and vocalist Paolo Escobar) — or the year long effort he recently put in with frequent collaborator Nate Omdal scoring the short film Enemy Within (which just received a nice look from the New York Times). Read more about Spek and his work and creative process, here.
Click album cover to D/L.
This brief 5-track self-titled EP from Spekulation is sneaky-good. The compositions are the mark of an MC and collaborator (Nate Omdal) not content on building simple boom-bap just for the sake of delivering bars, but an honest attempt at combining unexpected musical constituents.
The previously-released single, “Something is Happening Here,” successfully combines a Bob Dylan sample (“Ballad of a Thin Man”) with driving hip-hop rhythm, and “Inception” finds Spek rhyming like his life depends on it over a Celtic-inspired backing track. Get the EP for free below or throw some cash the artists’ way, too.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 