{"id":843933,"date":"2026-08-03T07:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T07:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843933\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T07:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T07:26:10","slug":"domi-jd-beck-who-asked-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843933\/","title":{"rendered":"DOMi & JD BECK: WHO ASKED? Album Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

I feel like once a week I see an Instagram Reel<\/a> captioned something like, \u201cBerklee students be like,\u201d showing a musician cheekily pulling off a seemingly impossible feat, fingers fluttering in a hummingbird-winged blur. Drummer\/keyboardist combo DOMi & JD BECK<\/a> embody that winkingly skillful spirit: They bring daredevil swagger to their meticulously refined chops, making jazz fusion at the intersection of conservatory discipline and madcap hijinks. It\u2019s an equal-opportunity approach to virtuosity: Their changes are dense enough for music-theory YouTubers, approachable enough for the flat-white set.<\/p>\n

NOT TiGHT<\/a>, DOMi & BECK\u2019s 2022 debut, channeled trad jazz fusion into a whirlwind of whimsy supported by a star-studded cast (Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, Anderson .Paak, Mac DeMarco), but they too often prioritized pyrotechnics over feeling. The extended chords radiated color, but despite the influence of hip-hop and video-game music, the playing felt less mischievous than relentlessly mechanical. On their second album, WHO ASKED?, the players opt to go it alone, forgoing the boldfaced features of their debut. They\u2019re still making charged-up tunes full of breakneck rhythms, but the awkward funkiness of Drunk<\/a>-era Thundercat<\/a> has been replaced by twinkly, upbeat atmospheres and a chamber orchestra that sometimes conjures up Masashi Hamauzu\u2019s work on the Final Fantasy series.<\/p>\n

No score yet, be the first to add.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s mood is evocative of a hot summer\u2019s day; the combination of live-wire drum breaks and breezy keys suggests the feeling of dipping your toes in the ocean when the temperature outside is pushing 90. \u201cEXiT\u201d captures the contradiction at the heart of their music: The playing is mathy, the melodies youthfully unburdened. The orchestra\u2019s washed-out timbres smooth over quick transitions, and DOMi\u2019s percussive celeste brings an ephemeral quality, giving the music an added degree of textural depth. In \u201cCONCERTINO (FOR PiANO, DRUMS, & ORCHESTRA),\u201d the duo\u2019s frenzied interplay is cushioned by strings and woodwinds that linger in the air.<\/p>\n

Where NOT TiGHT resembled a particularly kinetic beat tape, these pieces feel more like songs. That doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re hummable, though. The duo\u2019s vocal melodies mirror the rapid changes of the playing; nearly every syllable plots a new note on an already filled-in stave. Take \u201cSOME THiNGS NEVER CHANGE,\u201d whose melody is marked by awkward intervallic leaps. The antic delivery is at cross purposes with the song\u2019s lyrics, which seem to be about anxiety in the face of climate change (\u201cThe ground is humming, pressure rising\/Feels like both hands are tied\u201d); the overall effect is restless and scattered.<\/p>\n

Ironically, given the flashy playing and newly expanded palette, WHO ASKED? often feels frustratingly one-note across the album\u2019s nearly hour-long runtime. DOMi\u2019s maximalist playing rarely lets up, and the densely harmonized vocals and orchestra begin to grate. Compare \u201cOUT OF SYNC,\u201d \u201cCLiMBING HiGH,\u201d and \u201cGROWiNG OLDER\u201d: All three songs set cheery vocals and woodwinds against plasticky, lagging breakbeats, and no matter how technically proficient the playing, all those pastel hues begin to blur together.<\/p>\n

Short and punchy, \u201cLOVELY MASQUERADE\u201d offers a welcome tonal shift, featuring a menacing synth bass that chugs atop BECK\u2019s thumping, squarely positioned kicks. Its relatively skeletal form offers more space for the duo\u2019s ideas to unfurl, and reveals the central problem weighing down the album: Despite their copious skills, DOMi & BECK haven\u2019t yet learned when to let loose, when to pull back, and when just to hang.<\/p>\n

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DOMi & JD BECK: WHO ASKED?<\/p>\n