The producer named SkyRider rides with a crew of aspiring MCs, all associated with the label Endemik. And though his music, like theirs, hails from hip-hop, it is largely wordless, and it’s more likely to get creatively lost wandering the byways of sound collage, psychedelia and claustrophobic Americana. His brand of instrumental hip-hop is vague in all the right ways.
His “Everyday of Their Lives” (MP3) has a slowly strummed guitar and a scattered drum beat to its credit, the rattle of loose percussion and the occasional overheard voice; its idea of a bridge is an almost beat-less aside, as it edges into a more spacious realm. “Hello Loneliness” (MP3) is a likewise self-consciously probing exercise toward songfulness, all the constituent parts of a song splayed out of context: what could easily be a chorus (a falsetto singing “And fly above the world so high”) is heard for a brief time, so it’s left to loop only in the listener’s mind. And finally “No Good (Nosdam Remix)” seems to be a remix of SkyRider by alt-hop figure Odd Nosdam, who appreciates, and amplifies, the music’s focus on spare parts and artful fumbling (MP3). The first two tracks, along with the original version of “No Good,” are from the album SkyRider 47:34, and the Nosdam remix is the flipside of the single “Masters of Deception.”
According to the brief bio at the Endemik website, endemikmusic.com, SkyRider’s real name is Bud Berning and some of his music’s otherworldly affect can be attributed to a spell he spent in a coma. More info at myspace.com/skyrider, including a fine (but streaming-only) mix of strings and beats titled “painted roses remix,” his take on a track off labelmate (and Endemik founder) Scott Da Ros‘ One Kind of Dead End.