Art itself is inherently subject to the nature of change. Though artists often strive to create permanent, idealized work meant to convey particular ideas of expression, the fabric of time inevitably adds a contextual filter that perpetually alters the retention and perception of art. The old adage that art imitates life and vice versa persists, then, for good reason, as life is similarly in a constant state of evolution.
Felix Rodriguez gets this. He applies an adventurous spirit and an adaptive mind to compose instrumental music that has no agenda except to simply be. While his work stems from ideas, he allows it the space to grow beyond into new forms, sprawling across his many influences with little restriction.
Under the fitting name Open/Honest, Rodriguez has put out an impressive handful of projects since debuting as a solo artist little more than a year ago. His latest, despite being the shortest in his catalogue to date, is his most focused, thoughtful, and evolved.
There are ingredients here that, at the hands of a different composer, would become another passive Soundcloud mix of “lo-fi hip-hop beats to study to.” Open/Honest adheres to a loop-based structure, weaving in bits of hip-hop, electronic, and jazz sounds. The difference is that he does so with more intentionality, and that results in a more active instrumental mix which might prove distracting to a kid doing homework. Day One EP is just too interesting.
Perhaps the most significant and recognizable characteristic of Open/Honest’s work is the way it blurs the lines between live performance, sampling, and synthesized sound. Pianos, guitars, drums, and bass breathe an organic grounding to the pieces, but they’re also broken down and restructured through sample chopping, glitching, and mixing effects. It’s this compositional filter that gives Open/Honest’s music a cubist or mosaic-like quality. In this light, the cover art’s manipulated photography makes perfect sense.