Ta-Ku - 24 (2011)

Perth, Australia based producer Ta-Ku had been on the outskirts of my radar for the past two years, steadily releasing quality beat tapes and instrumental EP’s, but never really making me sit up and notice him amongst the high influx of talented beat smiths flooding the internet in the last decade.  Perhaps best known for his J Dilla Tribute series, I didn't get hooked on his work until I listened to his beat tape ’24′, just over a month ago.  Yes, I'm late.

Like many beat tapes, 24 is a collaboration project.  The idea came from Ta-Ku’s friendship with Soulection co-founder Joe Kay, and the premise was simple. Create one beat, fit to be aired on Soulection Radio, in 24 hours.  What came from the experiment was 13 crazy dope beats created by Ta-Ku over 13 days.

The idea was bold and challenging.  At risk of churning out half-assed beats to stay within the timeframe, Ta-Ku instead created 13 beautifully polished tracks, with each beat displaying Ta-Ku’s ability to make a robust sound without sacrificing for the sake of timeliness.  The intricacies on tracks like Hard to Imagine and 1, 2, 3, 4 make it hard to believe they were signed, sealed and delivered in 24 hours.  I don’t know the first thing about producing, but I’ve heard enough beats to know that it’s a time-intensive art and incredibly hard to select cohesive sounds and blend them together without it sounding like sonic pollution.  So for a producer to undertake a challenge like 24, and have each and every beat come out sounding so put together and fresh, is surely a testament to Ta-Ku’s finesse with digital audio gear and mad time-management skills.  Add to this his ear for choosing smooth samples and what you come away with is a sweet little beat tape with an impressive concept that would make even the most prolific producers sweat a little bit.

While there’s no throw away beats on here, there are one or two tracks that make you think he was having an uninspired day.  The track ’Another Day’ comes off feeling dull and bland.  One thinks the title was chosen in exasperation.  ‘I Love You’ lacks any heart and veers on annoying, with the looped vocal grating on the nerves. Lastly, the ‘Donut Interlude’ with its obvious Dilla salute lacks any type of charm or beauty it should have had with its link to one of the greatest to ever touch an MPC.

Last Word:  The entire concept of creating one beat a day for 13 consecutive days, and have most of the beats come out so well-executed, truly showcases Ta-Ku’s skills and cements him in the group of newer beat smiths to watch out for.  Oh and it’s completely free!

Overall:  82/100