THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pachyman is the musical project of Puerto Rican-born, Los Angeles-based musician Pachy Garcia. He has amassed an international following with a dub reggae sound that pays homage to genre masters like King Tubby and Scientist, not only via technique and form but through a kindred pursuit of bleeding edge, boundary-expanding sonics.
Another Place is Pachyman’s fifth album and most daring project to date — one that builds upon its forebears by leaning into the idiosyncratic elements lurking beneath previous projects. In doing so, it synthesizes the myriad scenes that have recontextualized the methods and aesthetics of dub — from pioneering synth-pop weirdos like William Onyeabor and Yellow Magic Orchestra to Basic Channel’s amniotic dub techno — into a sound that, while still anchored in dub reggae’s glorious walls of sound, is undeniably Pachyman’s own.
Recorded, as ever, in his basement studio 333 House, Another Place marks an artistic breakthrough for Pachy. “I was trying to understand who I am as a musician — not just operating in a distinct lineage but how I’ve metabolized and expanded upon it,” he explains. “Who am I behind all of this? It’s a very personal, vulnerable journey. I wanted to build my own world and create these new connections in my brain, incorporating everything: vaporwave, chillwave, soul-jazz, James Brown, Kosmiche musik and krautrock, the driving repetition of drum ’n’ bass.”
Another Place delivers on this far-reaching vision. Berlin pairs a pastoral, Boards Of Canada-cribbing organ sound with the kind of obscured, textural percussion that might suit a Berghain techno night. In Love is a joyful, egg-melting-on-the-sidewalk haze in the vein of Washed Out or Neon Indian. And the Slits-inspired False Moves uncovers fresh nuance in what Pachy describes as “a working-class, anti-establishment DNA” shared by dub and post-punk music.
The album was introuced by lead single Hard To Part, a skeletal drone-funk workout Pachy describes as “influenced by ESG and so many other sounds of that era that were cut from the same cloth as reggae and dub.” It’s an early contender for 2025’s best one-note guitar riff.
The track doubles as a cowbell-addled ode to Pachy’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles, one made ever the more poignant in the wake of the city coming together to help those impacted by the tragic wildfires of January 2025. Of the Hard To Part video, Pachy writes: “I’ve learned much from Los Angeles and its inhabitants, many who are diaspora or migrants. We all come here for some reason, we all find ourselves shedding a past skin and having some sort of rebirth. It’s a city that embraces you even if you try to resist.
“After seeing the fires nearly destroy the city, we decided to scrap the original Hard To Part video idea and shoot a sort of love letter or homage to Los Angeles. The locations featured in the video are all places that I frequented or have been part of my commute, places I’ve met people that became lifelong friends, or spots I went to decompress. The sunset dancing shot was taken at one of my favorite places to rest during rides along my most frequented cycling routes.”
