Electronic artist Makeup and Vanity Set is known for his cinematically dark soundscapes. What he’s not known for is creating dance-y beats with WARP records flavored spastic flourishes, which is exactly what he’s doing under the pseudonym daas. The latest release, Selected Early DOS, is a collection of recordings from 2000-2004 recorded in Murfreesboro and LA that reflect that certain kind of electronic music from the era.
There’s an insane pace to a lot of this that will drive you to madness if you aren’t ready for it beforehand but with that insight going in, you can easily enjoy this as the soundtrack to a tweaked out experience or frantic Rave scene. That’s not a disparaging comment – as the music induces a heightened state and I believe that to be the intention.
There are little bits and pieces throughout that denote the Makeup and Vanity Set “sound” that will emerge some 20 years after these recordings but it’s clearly, intentionally, a different beast of a project.