Harvey Gold is no stranger to the Twitter hip-hop head three layers deep. When it slid into my timeline, Harvey’s content first emerged in the form of tweets shedding light on other underground hip-hop acts. From there, it was commonplace to hop on the app and see his name pop up in interactions with other hip-hop Twitter accounts I engage with, such as DOOM Meets Bowie (@BowieDOOM). My conception of Harvey Gold altered when I stumbled across a tweet of his a few weeks ago, announcing his forthcoming album The Gold Vein (named by none other than DOOM Meets Bowie himself).
Harvey Gold epitomizes how to effectively make a name for oneself in the underground, embracing dialogue with other hip-hop-loving Twitter peers without assuming a holier-than-thou persona to which artists and creators can be susceptible. Before I listened to even a second of his music, I already held an impression of Harvey — one characterized by his influences, his tastes, and his thoughts on the current landscape of the genre. These facets of an artist all have the capacity to inform and contextualize their own work; this rings true in the case of Harvey Gold, as my impression of his online persona set the table for an enjoyable listen from the moment I pressed play on The Gold Vein.
The sample chopping Harvey displays on The Gold Vein functions as its backbone for all 50 minutes of the album. The Norwegian producer conducts a masterclass on digging in the crates, identifying the perfect four or eight bars of his findings to loop, and meshing them with crisp boom bap drums. The samples he repurposes conjoin to form a lush soundscape, each track its own distinctive moment that simultaneously transitions seamlessly into the next. The passage from “Hear Me When I Say” — the first full-length track of the album with a commanding feature from unruly that evokes Pro Era nostalgia — into “POV” may as well be a pronounced beat switch on a single track. This sentiment can be expressed for practically all transitions across this project, demonstrating intense attention to detail pertaining to the tracklist and its sequencing.
The Gold Vein is further strengthened by its unique pacing. Of the 16 tracks that compose the album, all but two are no longer than two and a half minutes. This — in combination with an alternating balance of instrumental tracks and rapped features — generates a successful formula for a captivating listen, as there are plenty of distinct (yet not disjointed) twists and turns that make the 50 minutes a charm and not a chore. As for the two tracks that are greater in length than two and a half minutes? One is an 11-minute cypher track showcasing a handful of underground acts (the second appearance on the album for most) over a saxophone sample that I could let play for an hour before growing tired of it; the other is a 15-minute outro illustrating the sampling and producing talents of Harvey through multiple instrumental switches, packing a beat tape into the span of one track.
At this stage in his budding career as a producer, Harvey’s music warrants close attention from those who both aggressively headnod to boom bap beats and seek escape from the mundane into a lush world created by one man and his drum machine. Familiarize yourself with Harvey Gold and The Gold Vein before he becomes a household name in the underground hip-hop scene.
Favorite Tracks
*Hear Me When I Say (feat. unruly)
*POV (feat. Asani Hard)
*Elmer Fudd (feat. MANSDEM)
*Gold (feat. unruly, A-43, Nyan Tun, Patty Honcho, MANSDEM, Paradoxic King, Knowitall, King Havana, and Frans Nielsen)
*funny dog
What’s The Wave?
~Put on a warm layer and step out of the door into a crisp fall afternoon. If you live in a city, walk to the nearest subway stop (you are in no rush to get there) and hop on. Purposeful travel to reach a specific destination is fully permissible, directionless travel is encouraged. Observe the people seated in your subway car, and let the album serve as a backdrop for the backstories you conjure up for these people. If you live in a suburban area, travel to the center of town (walk if it’s within walking distance, drive if applicable) and walk by local businesses. Peek through their windows (but don’t linger too long, you creep) and observe the shop owners and their patrons, once again letting the album serve as a backdrop for the backstories you conjure up for these people. If you live in a rural area, isolated from any environment filled with strangers, step outside your door and observe the fall foliage. If any greenery surrounds, immerse yourself in it.~
