Detroit native Dakim Saadiq, aka dak, has been swimming in the sticky swamp of the LA beat scene for several years now, perfecting his craft alongside experimental beatniks Shlohmo, Teebs, Dam-Funk and the like. All that hard work has paid off with his masterly full-length Youstandit / Leftrecord, just released off Matthewdavid’s excellent Leaving Records. As the forward slash in the title implies, the album is divided into two parts: an energetic jumble contrasted with a more reflective foil. Like that lil green prince in Katamari Damacy, rampaging through cities with an ever-growing ball of accumulated miscellany, dak’s beats stumble out the gate with a nervous tension seeking desperately to work itself out. With swinging tempos and a rotating collage of processed samples and synths, the tracks gyrate in puzzling rhythms, somehow maintaining the momentum while the groove’s center of gravity constantly shifts underneath. The frenzied yearning of the record’s first half gives way to a B-side with slightly slower, but no less experimental tendencies. Compressed synth arpeggios and clipped horns accent crunchy funky bass grooves that could almost be characterized as atmospheric if only it weren’t so active. Dak’s stunning compositions feel like a electronic junkyard brought back to humming life, filled with sombre undulating droned tones punctuated by percussive fits and claps. A Picasso-like sonic chameleon, dak flirts with all the varying shades of his eclectic scene, approaching styles perfected by his peers with a refreshing playfulness, not letting any one sound dominate for long. And although his music hops along with a briskness that would baffle an ADD-rattled teen, the music never becomes jarring or arbitrarily abrupt, as the album is wrapped in a warm, cushy blanket of silky smooth production that keeps the listener’s ear relaxed and ready for whatever groove comes next. Buy it here.