Babe Rainbow Winds Down 'Endless Path' With 'Chopped and Screwed' Beats

Filed under: Exclusive, New Releases, Q + A

Ryan Walter Wagner

It's only been two years since Vancouver's Babe Rainbow, aka Cameron Reed, began dreaming up dense, diabolic beats on his computer, but he's already releasing a second EP for super-esteemed electronic label Warp. The 'Endless Path' EP is an eight-track collection of Warp-encouraged sonic experiments in free-form bass music traipsing through surreal, cinematic territory. Part of a wave of renewed, Internet-fueled enthusiasm for forward-thinking beat scientists, Babe Rainbow is also fresh off playing Mutek, Montreal's digital music fest, and producing for a curated list of up-and-coming rappers.

Straddling the cusp of so many scenes might seem daunting, but Reed is affable and totally nonplussed leading up to the release of 'Endless Path.' Spinner caught up with him to talk about Vancouver's electronic scene, working with Warp, and why no one really knows how to make electronic music.

Okay, so I never really associate Vancouver, B.C., with electronic music...

I came from punk/noise scenes and it wasn't until getting picked up on Warp that people from the electronic scene began paying attention and reaching out. I've learned over the last two years that the scene is small but the attention toward it is growing quickly. At Mutek, I was part of the New Forms Festival showcase, and played with a collection of West Coast, Victoria, and Vancouver electronic beat artists. Seven acts of varying styles, from the same place, in a city like Montreal, at a festival that highlights the cutting edge of electronic music ... seeing how people responded to that was really incredible.

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