DJ Paypal feat. DJ Earl + DJ Taye – “Dose” (Singles Going Steady)

Pryor Stroud: A heavily caffeinated, firing-on-all-cylinders footwork track, “Dose” finds DJ Paypal fiddling with one of his most detailed and meticulously crafted beats to date. At times, the blips and whirs and writhing knob-turns move so quickly that they seem to blur together and converge into a kind of pseudo-language, an electronic vernacular somewhere in the uncanny valley between a legitimate sign system and a clot of incomprehensible sonic hieroglyphics. It’s fast, captivatingly dynamic, and just as suited for a late-night hacking competition as it is for a frenetic dancefloor spazz-out. [8/10]

Emmanuel Elone: It makes sense that “Dose” is an Adult Swim single. The fast-paced, colorful synths perfectly match the rhythm and tight snares and bass lines that weave in and out throughout the song. When it comes to instrumental nuance and detail, DJ Paypal certainly has things covered. It’s in the song structure department, though, where he lacks skill. Like many instrumental tracks, the incessant repetition does somewhat kill the momentum that “Dose” had earlier in the song. Granted, DJ Earl, DJ Taye and DJ Paypal do switch things up in small ways, but the end result still ends up where the song initially began. Nevertheless, “Dose” is by no means a boring song (it is in fact pretty enjoyable); it simply would have improved with a change of pace or two in its second half. [6/10]

Chris Ingalls: The busy synth/organ sample kicks off the song and quickly moves on to more interesting sounds. The song never seems satisfied with any one riff, which keeps things exciting for pretty much the whole run time. It’s a bit like a slightly less playful version of Jameszoo, or maybe Keith Emerson on club drugs. I kind of like the fact that there’s really no way you could convincingly dance to this. [8/10]

Chad Miller: The bass is huge in this song, creating a great rhythmic and grounding effect. It also helps with the many transitions, and it’s nice to hear the excellent intro come full circle at the end as a result of them. My one complaint would be that there aren’t a ton of chances for the track to breathe. The near midsection did a pretty good job with that, but it was very short. [7/10]

SCORE: 7.25