Track Review: The Maghreban’s ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’

On January 18th, the Maghreban is dropping an EP, titled Islands. The first two songs have already been released, with the second titled, “Rocky and Bullwinkle”. This is the name of an animated TV series from the 1960s, about the adventures of a moose and flying squirrel. This song’s cover art reflects this, showing the head of a moose shaking as if to the beat of the song.

The Maghreban, formerly known as Dr. Zygote in the mid-’90s when Doctor Zygote first started his music, is based out of the United Kingdom. Zygote has been known since then as a sampling-based music creator. The Maghreban is one person named Doctor Zygote whom has created R&B, Soul, Dance, and Electronic music since the mid-’90s. In the song “Rocky and Bullwinkle” a catchy beat and background vocals contribute to the flow of an upbeat building momentum song, matching tone with the rest of his recent tracks. 

The intro captivates, starting with a slowly rising beat and interspersed background vocal samples. This is like the beginning of a runner’s jog, starting off slow but ramping the momentum and pace up. Just as the vocals start to feel overused, however, they are replaced with several percussion patterns, giving a sense of increased pace and listening engagement. Later on, the track becomes more monotone, but picks up the pace near the end, like the runner finishing with a sprint.

Perhaps the title “Rocky and Bullwinkle” was used because the song acts like the episode from the before-mentioned adventure series, because of it’s rising and falling structure. However, compared with The Maghreban’s other work, it’s really not that listenable.