Before killing ‘God’, Freidrich Nietzsche reminded the world that “without iSkhaftin life would be a mistake”. Some would argue that he meant to say music. However, regardless of the subject of his philosophical position we can all agree that life is but a pointless barrage of struggles without iSkhaftin and music.

Hip hop producer, emcee and one third of the Nuke Smugglaz, Doctor Bops, extended the lifespan of the universe with the release of two editions of Beats That Were Left To Die: Hip Hop Edition, and Glitchy Edition.

Mastered by Dugguh of Sonic Weaponry, both works comprise “beats that were salvaged from old hard drives and slightly dusted off”, and when listened to in succession, sound like a sonic version of the Matrix spliced with Alice in Wonderland over a backdrop of an intense video game.

The 33-song Hip Hop Edition features classic songs, sampled with justice done to the source material such as ‘Unchain My Heart’ by Ray Charles. Classical Italian composer Vivaldi’s four seasons is given a make over that bridges the 18th century with 21st century urban street culture.

The Glitchy Edition descends into a world of creative chaos with synthesized audio and a signature sound: the glitch — CD skipping and reduced bit-rates that makes the listener feel like they’re in the world of a game cartridge that has taken over reality.

With 22 tracks, the Glitchy Edition has a wide experimental base — With the most interesting being homage to “music concrete” that is explained (sort of) in “Magnetic Tape”, right before the audio is stretched and distorted into something new. Music concrete is responsible for iconic sounds such as the Doctor Who theme song and the ‘TARDIS landing’. Perhaps Doctor Bops is a Time Lord who regenerated into a sonic mastermind.

Beats That Were Left to Die Hip Hop Edition and Beats That Were Left to Die Glitchy Edition are available for free on Bandcamp.

You can listen to Beats That Were Left to Die Hip Hop Edition here

Listen to Beats That Were Left to Die Glitchy Edition here.