The neon music that soundtracked the late-aughts Los Angeles club scene has become a global force. But while luminaries like Flying Lotus and Thundercat are recognized for influencing rap and jazz, the maestro of the Funkmosphere party in Culver City, Damon Riddick, gets less credit for bringing the synthesized sounds of the late ’70s and ’80s back to popular music. Years before Daft Punk made “Moroder,” Dâm-Funk was spinning tributes to the Troutman family, helping to make Afrofuturism the future once again.
Toeachizown, Dâm-Funk’s five-LP opus, is now a decade old; it’s been four years since the triple album Invite the Light. Riddick has pivoted from prolificacy to restraint, appropriate for a musician in the latter half of his 40s. These days, he often speaks through others, working with fellow Angelenos like Nite Jewel or arranging tasteful setlists like that of his strong DJ-Kicks entry. Even his new record, STFU II, 38 minutes of new music, gets modest billing: It’s an EP, not an LP, and a sequel to boot.
And it’s a modest release, as Dâm eases into cruise-control over the course of six five-minute-plus tracks (and one 54-second interlude called “Inhale, Exhale”). Moreso than the free EP STFU, STFU II picks up where DJ-Kicks left off: Its pleasures, are in steady, buoyant build; peace and love through body-rock. Nothing is too frantic or heavy, and when the bass appears, it’s as soothing as it is booming.
The first standout is the second single, “Compos Mentis,” and like all the best tracks on the EP, it’s elevated by a synth odyssey that overtakes a repetitious beat. About three minutes in, Dâm extends a stepladder of bass leading up to a land of dreamy pastel synths and fluttering keys, a Balearic overworld in the clouds. If that sounds good, you may also enjoy “Deeper,” on which Dâm throws together a loop worthy of Floating Points or the Field, then overtakes it with an extraordinary extended synthesizer solo, rising slowly in the mix until everything else is background.
Other tracks, though no less pleasant, disappear without leaving much of an impression. Closer “On Code” is the most traditional, G-funk brightened by sun-ray synths. A light-stepping bass shuffles through the opening half of “Ladera Heights,” named for the airport-adjacent neighborhood where Dâm-Funk moved once he started playing parties internationally. Soon enough, though, a well-behaved synth moves the proceedings skyward.
Artists’ promotional statements are often misleading, when not pure gibberish, but Dâm’s advice about how to experience STFU II offers as much insight into the record as anything else: “Just lay back, take a deep breath, stay outta trouble and simply ‘glyde’ for a while,” he writes, referring to his label, Glydezone. STFU II is music for relaxation. It’s a long way from the fierce energetic groove that characterized those Funkmosphere nights on Venice Boulevard. You might find that a bit dispiriting, and while you wouldn’t be wrong, you’d be missing the point. We should all hope to age this well.
