As part of an emerging beat scene in Austin, Anthony Maintain drops his debut album. Maintain actually got started as an emcee up in Boston years ago, but moved to Texas a few years back and made the shift to focus more on production. Listening to this record, it’s a decision that I’m glad he made.

The Elephant Race is a really interesting record, because most instrumental albums today aren’t being made in this fashion. It’s extremely down tempo and drawn out, with lots of open space, very slow and deliberate in it’s development, and very, very weird. It takes me back about ten years, when really bizarre electronic music and instrumental hip hop was consistently being put out on labels like Merck Records. While there are some great beat scenes happening today, I couldn’t say a lot sound like this. He doesn’t sound like Flying Lotus, he doesn’t sound like DJ Shadow…instead, it’s more in line with some really early Ninja Tune, threw in a little Odd Nosdam, and a touch of Blueprint’s instrumental work. Maintain is all about creating atmosphere. The music is slow, dark, heavy on the bass, full of dub and hip hop drums, and flavored with bizarre keyboard sounds and samples that add an eerie aura to the record. It’s nothing you’d put on at a party, but as I listen to it on my headphones on a rainy day, it sounds fantastic. It takes a little bit of patience to get into it, but if you put in the time, Maintain will reward your ears. There’s no big payoff, but there are lots of subtle, intricate developments that you start to catch as the album continues. My biggest complaint would be that for a record that unfolds so slowly, it also runs a little long, which makes it a little difficult to take in all in one sitting, even for the really patient listener.

The Elephant Race immediately establishes Anthony Maintain as a talented producer, and it adds an interesting twist to a scene just starting to emerge on the national level. I will definitely be watching to see where things go from here.