DJ PayPal: Sold Out Vinyl 2LP

Debut full length from DJ Paypal on Brainfeeder! For Sold Out, the Teklife affiliate and Mall Music founder delivers 8 tracks of playful, next-level footwork on double LP. From Brainfeeder - DJ Paypal is one of footwork’s most fascinating figures. His playful moniker and internet-savvy
branding hint at a healthy sense of humour, but his music is as lush and soulful as his fellow
Teklife producers. As the leader of Mall Music, the label home to peers like DJ Orange Julius
 and DJ Mastercard, he’s outlined a new take on footwork laden with lush synthesizers and hi-
definition sonics, while most recently his work on  has pointed towards an interest in
soul and disco. All of these factors come into play for Sold Out, his debut for Brainfeeder and a
 record that takes him beyond the pale of footwork into something all his own. Sold Out is a showcase for everything Paypal can do at 160 BPM, and it taps into the deep
lineage of soul, hip-hop and jazz that defines the Brainfeeder discography. He’s already
mastered the silky Teklife roller, embellishing the formula with hip-hop sensibilities, funky synth
runs and vocoder lines. He tackles jazz on “Awakening” and “Ahhhhhhh,” where horn samples
curl around his spastic drum programming. On “Slim Trak,” he chops and dices an African
rhythm and lets it roll to a boil until grunts and yelps are bubbling up between the drums. On the
arresting title track, he arranges bright, clean tones like a Philip Glass footwork symphony.
Ever the collaborative spirit, Paypal hooks up with familiar faces like Teklife members DJ Earl
and Taye, and some names outside the world of footwork, including Tielsie and Keiska, who
 assist on Sold Out’s elegiac closing track. The lengthy, patient “Say Goodbye” is unlike much
 else in the Paypal catalogue: it develops slowly and sadly before shooting off into an ecstatic
 outro, hinting that footwork doesn’t always have to be about frenetic drums or hectic samples.
It’s the mark of an emotional thread that runs through an already diverse oeuvre and reaches a 
new, complex peak with Sold Out.

• gatefold sleeve
• digital download included
• music label: Brainfeeder 2015

reviewed by Cookie 12/2015