In 2021, Tron Jovi—the producer moniker for ever-active Milwaukee music mainstay Martin Defatte—released the project’s debut EP, Bass + Frequency Studies In Dub, Chapter One. The release was populated by compositions Defatte said “weren’t quite right” for his litany of other projects on account of being “too quirky and textured.”
Since casting that six-pack of songs into the world more than four years ago, Defatte’s Triple Eye Industries label has put out over two dozen other releases, including output from Guerrilla Ghost and Diamond Life (Defatte’s other projects). Heck, Tron Jovi even managed a few one-off singles and remixes of material from MF Doom and Combuster in the interim. Busy as he’s been, the pool of dubstep-adjacent material without another home has gradually replenished. As such, Tron Jovi is now ready to put out a second chapter of Bass + Frequency Studies In Dub.
The second installment—due out Friday, June 20 on CD and digital formats via Triple Eye Industries and for streaming on all platforms—finds Defatte continuing his electronic music exploration while venturing into some interesting and unexpected places in the process. Opener “Polymath In Liminal Space” is perhaps the record’s most layered and nuanced song, as twinkly synth ably intermingles with smooth bass and peppy percussion to start the album in style.
From there, “Mirror Politics” and “The Almighty, Soul Crushing Dollar” veer into decidedly darker terrain, as down-tempo beats anchor sharp and occasionally strained Ableton production. The generally dour feeling persists into track four, “Hobo Nickels On The Dime,” but a bombastic beat helps to up the energy and act as a precursor for brighter moments ahead (after the entrancing phone-ring-incorporating “Dead Internet Block Party” interlude).
With a sample-based assist by Defatte’s Triple Eye cohort Francisco Ramirez (of Whaler), “Tyranny Of The Algorithm” serves as one of the album’s richest and most lush offerings with high- and low-end sounds intertwining to forge a truly standout track. That song transitions well into the dial tone-leaning, production-stuttering Studies crescendo, “Echo Chamber Hit Piece,” whose sterile operator prompts are the only words spoken in the entirety of the otherwise completely instrumental effort.
“Two, Tree Chords And The Truth” is reminiscent of an AI-imagined soundtrack to a dalliance in the Middle East, which is chased by the album’s last and absolute best song. The sleek and stunning “Tarantula Glamour” is the perfect blend of electro-tinged inventiveness and indie hip-hop appeal. If Defatte hasn’t been in contact with Shabazz Palaces about licensing this track, they’re both messing up.
All told, we could never imagine any of Bass + Frequency Studies In Dub, Chapter Two having a place in the Guerrilla Ghost or Diamond Life universes. Fortunately for us, Defatte didn’t allow any of these disparate compositions to be neglected or orphaned because they indisputably have a home under the ever-expanding sonic umbrella of Tron Jovi. Before it’s released on Friday, June 20, listen to Bass + Frequency Studies In Dub, Chapter Two below.