Phoenecia

Unlikely successors to the Miami hip-hop tradition embodied by Maggotron, 2 Live Crew, Tony Butler, and MC A.D.E., the beat deconstructors Phoenecia fuse the low-end punch of bass music with the jagged, digital post-electro textures associated with Autechre, RAC, and other Warp-affiliated artists. After issuing material under the Soul Oddity moniker, producers Romulo Del Castillo and Joshua Kay established Phoenecia in 1997, shifting toward a leaner aesthetic built on intricate percussion patterns and broken rhythmic structures. Ahead of that project, Kay had appeared as Jeswa and Del Castillo as Metic on the Miami-based Schematic label. Phoenecia’s initial contribution surfaced on Detroit’s Interdimensional Transmissions From Beyond compilation series; the track “Roba” echoed their earlier Soul Oddity style yet removed melodic elements and excess density, retaining only the most unruly robotic beatbox shards and a twitching, liquid bassline. Their proper debut, the Randa Roomet EP, followed soon afterward on Warp and presented four pieces in a comparatively open, loosely club-oriented manner. Additional remixes and compilation cuts later surfaced via Chocolate Industries, Nature, Alien8, and Schematic, the latter imprint which the duo assumed control of in 1997 and used to issue OddJobs in 1999 along with Brownout and Odd Job Discrimination in 2001.