That Sydney’s Jonti Danilewitz is a prodigious musician and an absolute technical wunderkind is not something that is actually up for debate. From his start as the Nintendo-DS modifying sound wizard in Sherlock’s Daughter through to his Danimals project and beyond, Jonti’s nose for the weird and wonderful and his ear for melody has always been a constant, but so has his inclination to lean very left of mainstream. It’s probably that part of his personality which won the attention of Peanut Butter Wolf, who signed him as the first Aussie to retro/hip hop label Stone’s Throw, home to Mayer Hawthorne and, more patently, a lot of the J Dilla back-catalogue. Wonky beats and bizarre instrumental arrangements are Jonti’s area of expertise, and there are plenty of them on Twirligig. The problem is that almost all of them are crying out for rappers or singers to give them some cohesion, and they’re few and far between here.
It’s not that Dilla didn’t do this kind of thing either, but it’s very difficult to engage a listener with lopsided loops and exploding synth warps if there’s not going to be a driving force pulling it through. Cyclic Love, the only track here that features a lyricist, is miles ahead of the rest because you can actually see Jonti’s potential realised. Elsewhere it’s a mixed bag of his old psych-trips (Nightshift In Blue) and affected instruments (Twirligig), and it inspires but doesn’t stick. As his recent spur-of-the-moment collab with Hogdy Beats Nagoya confirms, Jonti has the nous and the ears to shape the future of hip hop. But as much as I love his music, the only way he’s going to do that is by slowing down that twirling scroll wheel in his brain which brings out all these beautiful colours. This is the beginning of a very big thing. Now let’s get down to business.
BY JONNO SEIDLER
Best Track: Cyclic Love
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: GALAPAGOS, CANT, PRINCE RAMA, EMA
In A Word: Arranged
