Tracks

Quam: "Just in Time"

Download (2012)

By George Bass | 20 March 2012

Named after the signature from the world’s greatest breakbeat track, Quam is Phil Gringer, a DJ from Boston who’s far, far too clever for eighteen. Back with his fake ID from the Berlin club circuit he’s premiering “Just in Time,” a screwed-up piece of midnight funk that could out-slink producers twice his age. With talent like this, a golden future awaits. His parents should prepare for minor emancipation.

Starting with cool cymbals and a single dub techno pad, “Just in Time” sags into the nicest kind of comedown music—the kind which reminds you stuff more messed up than your drug-battered brain can still function. Using footwork and chewed-up vocals Quam pours out a Bullion DJ set on helium, the shifted diva noises recreating that “too many microdots in the nightclub” moment. He might be too young to gain admission himself, but Gringer could become the prince of the VIP area with output like this, retaining enough humour and invention to convince you he’d send back the champagne.