I’m writing to you all from Brooklyn, on Bedford Ave. sipping a skim latte sitting here being too cool for words with my friend Jakub.  I’m here this week to come to a final decision regarding graduate school, which will invariably be happening for me in NYC, and to hang with friends out here who I haven’t seen in a few months.

Shigeto – There Is Always Hope – Semi Circle EP

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One of these friends is my pal Zach, who records as , and whose Semi Circle EP, his debut on Ghostly International, comes out today.  It was my honor and privilege to participate in the creation of album artwork for this release, which tells a personal story of struggle and sacrifice, and looks at inspiration Zach derives from the hardships the Japanese side of his family had to endure while forced into the notorious internment camps during WWII, specifically the experience of his grandmother, May.  I was given access to an unprecedented collection of original materials, documents, and photographs from Zach’s family, and the resulting artwork is my effort to provide a visual interpretation of the music.  This track completely melted my face off when he first played it for me, I think it provides an excellent (re-)introduction to Shigeto listeners both new and old, in the sense that it gives a taste of things to come.  Definitely keep your eyes and ears open for Shigeto as he continues to forge ahead with the past in one hand and the future in the other.

Ramadanman – Don’t Change For Me – Ramadanman EP

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recently released a self-titled EP that took me by surprise.  My perception of this playfully-named London native’s catalog was that it comprised a different area of dubstep altogether: the grimey, wonky side, certainly not a lovesteppy pseudo-jungle roller like this one.  I find this track to be undeniably catchy, incorporating just enough of that Amen Brother jungle break to make you reminisce without crossing over and away from remaining a proper dubstep tune.  The 90’s house-sounding vocals top things off beautifully, with notes and melodies that have been chopped and abstracted, sprinkled atop the track like sugar on a sundae.

Roof Light – Street Level – Street Level EP

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Percussion Lab Radio is on my speakers every Monday from 9-11pm (EST), so when the show’s host, , offered me a half-hour slot on last night’s show, I was on cloud 9.  Before I took over the 1’s and 2’s, he threw down this incredible track from , it’s called Street Level, and I imagine it would appeal to much the same audience as those who like the above-posted track.  I love the sound of cut-up pop and R&B vocal samples, maybe a little too much, but there is a lot of futuristic-sounding fun mixed in with the ephemera and candy-sweet pop and house tones.

Kuniyuki Takahashi – Ocean Waves (Minilogue Remix) – Koss

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I played this track from in my set on PLR last night, it’s off his new EP Koss, which features a number of remixes and edits of his track Ocean Waves.  It’s very cool to listen to different stylistic approaches being applied to the same idea of a track, the EP spans ambient, house and dub territory, without sounding like a compilation, instead sounding cohesive and appealing to listeners from more than just one circle on the dancefloor.  I like the deep, cavernous effect that gets accentuated by the reverberating stabs in this track, it chugs along like a bullet train speeding through a tunnel carved out of a mountain.

Posted in Music Posted by on Apr 20 2010 08:42 pm

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