- Guitarist, beat-maker, producer, sonic-adventurer and Sydneysider Godriguez or to his parents, Dave Rodriguez, is the man behind the beats that you may be familiar with on Sampa The Great’s The Great Mixtape and Choose Your Weapon. To get across all that he does will reveal to you that the guy is a lover of music and all that it encompasses. His most recent project is a live band, Godtet, with a release of the same name.

This album of twelve tracks is the result of Rodriguez conducting a series of sessions in Sydney with musicians of established rapport, namely: Tully Ryan, Jan Bangma, Andrew Bruce and Dominic Kirk. The result is an intriguingly nuanced collection of grooves and atmospheres requiring attentive listens and an open mind. You can’t deny the tangible sense of cohesion amongst the players, their interaction with each other is both subtle and electrifying and as much as there isn’t any obvious sense of structure, their jams do have a keen sense of dynamics that should hold your attention.

What strikes me the most about Godtet’s explorations is how graceful they are. From the most delicate lead-single Ensueno to the aptly titled Take Off, which takes flight, ascending upon a gallop of polyrhythms, only to glide into a light-footed landing. The magic is there for those who listen.

Of course, those nimble flights of fancy come with seemingly frivolous inclusions like the poke-and-prod warm-up grooves of Deluge, which sounds like Rodriguez taking advantage of the situation to record his own sample fodder or the expansive ambience of Hahahhaha that encourages you to drift off, to lose focus, to become involved in your own imagination instead of the players.

Ultimately, it’s a very honest document on letting players play. There is the opportunity to hear them at their most attentive and interactive and there’s also moments where lighthearted grooves are allowed to just simply groove. A testament to Rodriguez sensibilities as producer, guitarist, beat-maker and sonic adventurer.

- NJR.