Patternbased takes over the

Ally Melling

Fans of hip-hop, dance and independent music are invited to visit Akron’s Lime Spider Saturday night, where they will be treated to Patternbased, a rising star in the world of trip-hop.

At its core, Patternbased is a means of creating and sharing local music. It was created by Akron musicians Curt Brown, Corey Farrow, Pat McNulty and Joe Minadeo.

Bands such as Low in the Sky, The Noun and Honeypot are all a part of the Patternbased project and will perform Saturday night. They will also be joined by the Texas band, Manzinga II.

Layers commonly define trip-hop: slow, hip beats, deep, lush vocals and, normally, a digital or synthetic element. Popular bands like Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky are given credit for creating the path to trip-hop.

“To be honest, I don’t really like the term trip-hop,” Minadeo said of the labeling Patternbased bands frequently get branded with.

Farrow, McNulty, Minadeo and Tortora work with other musicians to make the atmospheric sound of Low in the Sky. Farrow and Minadeo share the reins with emcees Chaka and Gator for Honeypot. Farrow, McNulty and Minadeo jam with Matt Horak to create Totally Awesome. Minadeo “added the flavor” to the slinky flow of Akron-favorite Racermason (also a member of Patternbased), and in return, Racermason’s Derek and Mandy Lashua contributed to Low the Sky’s last full-length album, Dear Birds.

Rest assured that each group featured with Patternbased carries with it a unique sound despite the similar artists involved. Patternbased also shares integrity for the love of making music over making money.

“Obviously it would be nice to have more fans,” Minadeo said. “But attention on the music is fairly strong stuff in our minds, hence all the downloading options on our Web site. First and foremost is the music. I think bands would benefit from that more.”

To sample free music by Patternbased artists, visit www.patternbased.com.

Contact ALL correspondent Ally Melling at [email protected].