You know what we don’t hear enough in the dance? Broken beat. You know what we are hearing enough (and for good reason)? Latin club. Well, in my recent digging for more broken beat, a curiously beloved genre its admirers, I stumbled across Seiji’s ‘Weedkiller’, a track that chameleonically blends both of these sounds. It comes from Seiji 1-5 (2011), an album with a singular, timeless approach to broken beat, featuring uncluttered mixes, heavy low-end, and digital melodies. In the best way possible, it sounds like an alternate universe where Hemlock or Hessle leaned into UK funky more than UK techno. Anyway, ‘Weedkiller’ is particularly striking within this context. It begins as each other track on the album does, building out a near-perfect bruk groove for a minute. Then, the drop comes, but this time the kick drums have a distinctly reggaeton flair and the song takes on a delightful urgency. The beat is polyrhythmic, but has such a simple, natural bounce to it. With headphones on, you can very easily imagine a sea of moonlit bodies bobbing gleefully to ‘Weedkiller’ on the floor. For a song that was released over twelve years ago, it sounds unbelievably fresh. If you played ‘Weedkiller’ for me yesterday, I would very confidently estimate that it was released this year.

It feels like kismet that I found this track the day before NYE. ‘Weedkiller’ encapsulates what was so special about the best club music in 2023 – bass-forward arrangements, playful rhythms and the growing influence of both dembow and Afrobeat on the mainstream. DJs, take note – more than a few events tomorrow night could do with a bit of ‘Weedkiller’!

85

Sam Gollings

30 December 2023