Pabineau First Nation hip hop artist Wolf Castle has released his first instrumental album – Wolfio Beats Vol. 1
Matt Carter
On his latest release, Pabineau First Nation hip hop artist Wolf Castle (Tristin Grant) gives his voice a rest to share his first collection of beats. Wolfio Beats Vol. 1 is a collection of instrumental compositions and backing tracks composed for songs that never materialized on his earlier albums. When compared to the music on his most recent EP releases The Da Vinci Chronicles and 2018’s full-length Rezurbia, Wolfio Beats introduces a softer approach and perhaps the first Wolf Castle tracks that could be called “dreamy”.
In the liner notes to this eight track release, Grant explains how the idea for this album came as the result of the world’s current collective state of self-isolation. Having the time to dig through some older recordings, he picked some of his favourite unreleased tunes to make this album.
Most of the tracks presented on here are borderline minimalist in terms of their arrangements. The drums are simple and in most cases the melodies, even more so. A lot of the tones used to construct the bulk of these tracks have a dated feel to them, almost as if they were pulled directly from a decades old soundbank, yet work well in this instrumental context and together as a collection.
While few of these tracks do much to break the surface and expand into a world of their own, this release isn’t without a few highpoints. Interestingly, it’s the opener, the midpoint interlude and the closing track.
