Definitive Records asks interesting Vancouverites to reach deep inside their souls to pull out the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today we hear from Peter Van de Reep, the barman regularly holding it down at the much loved Campagnolo Upstairs on Main Street.
Quasimoto – The Unseen
I knew from a fairly young age that I really liked beats with a jazz influence. I also rather liked music that was influenced by a lot of drugs (something entirely foreign to me as a good suburban kid from Calgary). Enter Madlib and his alter-ego Quasimoto. I must have listened to this after Madvillainy and Shades of Blue (solid runners up for this list), but The Unseen remains my top Madlib-produced joint. Laid back, jazzy, weird as hell and incredibly solid across the entire album. Top tracks: Come on Feet, Astro Black, Jazz Cats Pt 1, Astro Travellin.
Four Tet – Pause
I went to an international school in the forest outside of Victoria (shout out to Pearson College) and was handed a mixtape from a friend of a friend from Vancouver called “Music That Is Nice To Listen To In The Woods”. It had a bunch of Four Tet tracks from Pause, and I immediately fell in love with the rest of the album. Harps on loops, real drums, field recording samples and pulsing, warm synths. It really is nice to listen to in the woods. If the person out there who made that mixtape for Leah back in 2003 is reading this for some reason, thank you. Top track: Parks.
Burial – Untrue
Burial helped me through a lot of rainy winters in Vancouver. The warbling, pitch shifted vocals, the melancholy stutter of the drums and bassline — it’s perfect headphone music for navigating transit or for listening to in a dark room. Burial is both nostalgic and futuristic in a weird Blade Runner-esque way for me. Untrue started my love affair with all of the dark bass music coming out of the UK. This was near the roots of dubstep and before all the online forum arguments about the definition of the aforementioned and related genres (ugh, I was that guy back then). Every listen to this album is incredible. Top track: “Archangel”.
That’s a great trifecta of albums!