Mimar the Beat curator's Sixth Pick: Sabata's 'Flying Nimbus'

This week's selection: Sabata's chopped up and mellow beat Flying Nimbus

This here was another one of those beats where I realized how much further I had to go as a beat-maker before I was making music at this caliber. It also gave me slight flashbacks of JDilla, with that heavy bass and finger snap, which is really never a bad thing - we certainly didn't get enough of his beats before his untimely passing.

With that said, sabata here is no copycat. This beat-maker has clearly plotted out a unique style and seems like an exciting new (for me) beat-maker to follow. Keeping it in the states, sabata, from Virginia, may not be new to all of you, given his(/her?) relatively high number of followers on soundcloud, and in this case, they're clearly deserved. 

This beat has some very nice usage of vocal samples, seemingly from an anime, which may have inspired the song, if not the title and image chosen for it (see above right). Ever since the 'musings' of Doom and Madlib (I know, I know, enough with doom and madlib already!), I've been obsessed with finding and using fun vocal samples from various media, so to see someone doing it as well as this is always nice, in and of itself. That it's done so subtly and unobtrusively is for me a lesson, and I think has a very nice effect on the track.

Lately I've been working with an MC, so it's made vocal sampling a little more complex; A, having to match it to lyrical content, and B, having to place it in parts of the song that give the MC space for his verses - or essentially, to construct actual songs with vocal-sampled 'choruses' and the like. Anyway, back to our topic here, sabata serves as a great teacher/example in how to use vocal sampling for instrumental beats meant to be listened to on their own; not too repetitive, not too complex, or scene-stealing. Anyway, enjoy the beats here, as again, the track I've selected is hardly the only good one among the bunch by this talented beat-maker.

As always, check mine out too, while you'e at it - I'm putting together my first LP of beats for release, so any and all feedback is appreciated - good or bad, as long as it's constructive. Hope this early spring is treating you all well!