Here’s one of these oddball deep cuts I love to share: the song is “Obverse I,” by the band Obverse, off the EP Obverse, and the record label… is Obverse. I’m just making that last part up — the label is apparently Hogweed & Fugue.
Today’s drummer is Chris Allison, who’s best known for drumming with Plini since ~2018. Indeed, Chris and Plini sharing this EP is really the only reason I even know about it. On Obverse, Chris is joined by bassist Dan Briggs and harpist Emily Hopkins. I’m quite curious as to whether or not every sound on this record originally comes from a drum kit, harp, or bass, since there are some very interesting textures on this release.
To that end, my favorite song on Obverse is probably the finale “Obverse IV,” but I want to look at the first track today. While my original plan was to only do the final movement, I found the energy to look at the whole tune. The pocket for “Obverse I” is either pretty straightforward or quite gnarly.
I really enjoy Chris’ playing with Plini, but Chris transcribes a lot of his own material, so it’s exciting to get a good opportunity to face a challenge and really analyze him.
“Obverse I” tune opens with a somewhat free harp and bass setup before a heavily syncopated 5/4 groove starts:
There’s no obvious beat partitioning, or, really, any obvious backbeats and downbeats — one (potentially harebrained) way to count it would be 16th note patterns of 5 + 7 + 8 + 10 + 5 + 5. It’s… probably best to focus on the quarter note pulse. The hi-hat part either plays steady 8ths or matches the rhythm from the rest of the kit. Also, note the heavy use of the tap accent on the snare.
Shortly afterward, there’s a slight feel change to the 5/4 groove, perhaps with a 7 + 7 + 6 lope, and a screwball measure of 5/16:
I’m not sure if this is the best way to count it, but there really seems to be an extra 16th note before the pattern restarts. On the second phrase, the extra 16th is instead an extra 8th note, which I have written as a bar of 3/8.
This whole section repeats before we get the very breezy “main” groove:
As you might be able to see (or hear), the bars of 5/4 feel like a combination of 6/8 and 2/4. You could write it in 10/8:
Or perhaps with alternating meter:
I went with 5/4 since most of the song is in a quarter note-based time signature. This section ends with changes between 3/4 and 4/4 enveloping some offbeat fills:*
Next is a simpler, more subdued 4/4 section. I think the cymbal is playing steady 8ths throughout, but it sounds like there’s some kind of shaker texture playing 16ths. This section eventually morphs into a sort of Latin feel:
Do you recognize the groove? You should, since it’s more or less the first measure of the opening groove, with beat 5 lopped off and a simplified cymbal and snare drum part:
Take notice of the steady evolution of this sequence:
The cymbal starts with quarters before playing a dotted-8th clave-type rhythm. The right hand then moves to a stack and starts playing a repeated dotted-8th-note pattern that stretches over the barline, creating something of a 3–4 polymeter between the cymbal and the rest of the music.
As the last line shows, this groove does transition right into the 5/4 pattern from the beginning (again, the cymbal and snare parts are a bit different). Since the first four beats of the phrase are just the same as before, the change catches you a bit off guard.
The finale has the 6/8 + 2/4 feel; rather than ghost notes on the snare, the left hand fills in with the hi-hat while the right hand hangs out on the ride:
There’s a slick little 32nd-note fill near the end of this 5/4 groove:
The final measures are in 3/4. Again, since the bars of 5/4 sound as if they start in 6, it takes a sec to notice the meter change. Ghost notes appear to be minimal during this part, but it’s likely I couldn’t hear them properly, so I added what I could. There are some more dotted-8th cymbal rhythms, and in 3/4, it takes on a bit of a shuffling feel:
The EP at large is very fascinating, with a lot of interesting timbres as I mentioned earlier, and frequent 3/4–6/8 and 5/4 motifs. “Obverse III” has another trippy pocket that’s probably worth checking out at some point, while the finale “Obverse IV” has a soaring 4/4 movement before a positively bitchin’ ambient section. It’s a pretty unique experience overall, and I have to wonder if this trio will reunite in the future…
* ^ As far as toms go, the floor tom seems to be used exclusively on this track.
