Holiday cheer just became binge-able, thanks to a new beat tape from dephrase. Folks lagging in Christmas spirit can now pop in dephrost vol. i to speed-skate through the sounds of December.
Comprised exclusively of vinyl record samples and clips from holiday specials, the new tape from the Boston producer streamlines generations of seasonal memories, stringing together bursts of nostalgia like twinkling Christmas lights. It’s likely the only place you can hear a screeching Buddy the elf, sped-up crooning from Frank Sinatra, and Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas compositions in the span of less than 30 minutes.
The project arrived on Bandcamp earlier this month, and hits streaming services this Thursday (December 14).
Yet as much as dephrost vol. i is a treat for listeners, the project doubles as an offering to dephrase’s musical influences — and his perfectionist self. Tackling a seasonal project forced the producer to break out of a cycle of creative nitpicking, a habit that often delays his output. “Christmas was a deadline that I couldn’t negotiate, I couldn’t push back if I wanted to,” he explains.
“This is a love letter to all of the music that influenced me to be a musician, from the soulful chops of Dilla and knxledge, to Madlib’s deep sampling of mixed media, to the blown-out bass sounds of Ras G and the 2010s L.A. beat scene,” dephrase elaborates. “For me, perhaps this serves as a permission slip to myself to create, not over-judge or over-think, and release my art before it’s perfect (and it never is).”
Heat up your holiday season with dephrost vol. i below.