Radius Etc's 'The Time Is Coming…(There It Is)' Is a Loose-Limbed Masterpiece of Beat Logic
There is no Spotify link on this one, and that is the point: The Time Is Coming…(There It Is) went up on Bandcamp on November 6 and stayed there, eleven tracks deep, released through the Chicago producer’s own ETC Records. The tag list reads boom bap, dub, house, experimental, instrumental hip-hop. Records that claim that much usually commit to none of it. This one does the opposite.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: This is where the dub training shows. Low frequencies here are events rather than a bed — a bass figure arrives, gets pushed, drops out entirely for a bar, and the hole it leaves is load-bearing. Bandcamp Daily reached for Lee “Scratch” Perry as a comparison alongside Clams Casino and Dälek, and the Perry reference is the one that explains the mixing desk.
The Spatial Dynamics: Reverb is used as punctuation rather than atmosphere, which is what keeps eleven instrumental tracks from settling into beat-tape sameness — the house and boom-bap tags on the same release are not hedging, they are adjacent rooms. Zoe Camp’s verdict is hard to improve on: this is “the rare beat music that regards structure as a suggestion, as opposed to a rule.”
Standout Performance
Radius himself on “Dig Real Deep (Ital Mixup),” where the dub instincts stop being an influence and become the actual method — the arrangement gets taken apart live and reassembled a bar late.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ “DeepStrokeLoftVisions” and “Head Banger (BOOM!)” sit two tracks apart and sound like different disciplines.
⚡ Track four is called “I AM A MULTIMILLIONAIRE!!!” and track six is “ROBBING GOVTS.” The sequencing has a sense of humour.
🌈 Bandcamp Daily: “one of Chicago’s most formidable beatsmiths.”
⚡ Digital-only, direct from the artist, no rollout. Go and find it.