Wild City Singled Out: June 2016
15 July 2016
‘Storm In A Teacup’ by Sparkle and Fade w/ Fuzzy Logic
Mumbai’s Sparkle and Fade has two tracks out so far and his latest has been co-produced with Fuzzy Logic (who’s very busy these days with the release of a new EP and crowdfunding campaign). There’s a sort of vast airiness about ‘Storm In A Teacup’, which, when combined with intricately layered, gradually building melodies and chimes makes for a post-rock inspired piece of electronica (going by the general sense of epic-ness it’s trying to convey) that really is quite lovely, even if it isn't as polished as we'd like it to be.
Clocking in at just over a minute and a half, Echofloat’s latest is a bit underwhelming. There’s an idea somewhere in there that hasn’t quite made it to fruition, unfortunately. However, it’s still an experiment and worth a listen, so we suggest you check out Echfloat on SoundCloud to know what he’s capable of.
‘Con Artist’ by The Sine Painter
Now we’re getting somewhere. The producer’s celebrating Montreal with ‘Con Artist’ – a heavy, heavy club banger that incorporates a range of genres from industrial, to experimental grime and bass. Leo would approve. This is probably one of our favourites from The Sine Painter so far; he’s come a long way from making relatively innocuous deep house tracks. We can see him fitting into the RBMA camp easy. Throwback to when he was just another dropbox talent unearthed from the recesses of SoundCloud.
This is the latest track from Sarathy Korwar’s album ‘Day To Day’, released through on Ninja Tune x Steve Reid Foundation. With mentorship from the likes of Four Tet, Emanative, Floating Points, Koreless and Gilles Peterson, expectations are understandably high, and so far Korwar has exceeded even those. The combination of Sidi music, jazz and electronics in ‘Bismillah’ could have easily been kitchy and contrived like most ‘fusion’ music tends to be but this is really beautiful stuff – deep, evocative and impeccably produced; complex and easy for anyone to appreciate without being completely impenetrable.
‘r u s t i e n o t r u s t i e’ by 「 ezzyℒand 」™
Another really underrated producer whose sound we’re loving is 「 ezzyℒand 」™ (his recent album ‘NEON GRAFX 3K9’, released last month, is seriously worth a listen). ‘r u s t i e n o t r u s t i e’ – we’re probably right in assuming – is this producer’s ode to Rustie both in its nomenclature and sumptuously lush, vibrant sound. The altered vox over colourful, otherworldly synth work and excited percussion make it maximalist in every sense of the word. Great stuff.
Drona and Nanok release an earwormy, pop/electronic tune with great sing-along potential that’s going to make a lot of their fans happy. It’s energetic, accessible and has a lot of commercial potential. For Nanok, it’s a big improvement from his last appearance in Singled Out. Collaborations with vocalists seem to work out better for him than purely instrumental production - it seems like a route he should go down.
SOHN ‘Lessons’ Remix by Sawhorse
Mumbai’s Sawhorse, a.k.a. (f.k.a.?) Animal Factory, real name Aditya Nandwana released his remix of ‘Lessons’ by electronic and (PB)Rn’B musician, songwriter and producer SOHN. Nandwana takes the soulful, pulsating and beautifully sung original track and runs it through a left-of-centre techno filter for some surprisingly interesting results. There are some solid beats on Sawhorse’s interpretation of ‘Lessons’, though we would have liked to see the producer push the envelope a bit further and really make it his own.
We’ve written about the very prolific lihkin (Nikhil spelt backwards for the confused) a number of times before under his other pseudonym Iyer. He dumped a whole bunch of tracks on Soundcloud this June and we picked his remix of ‘Spikes’ taken from Death Grips’ mad new album ‘Bottomless Pit’. Lihkin’s version strips and slows down the glitchy original, emphasising that first-rate hook and heightening the bass just enough. Didn’t think we’d ever say this as DG purists, but we’re digging it.
One of our favourite producer’s from our neighbours in the west is out with a bright, vibrant new number called ‘Neon Cascade’, released as a free DL on SoundCloud. Aptly juxtaposed against lively Japanese streets, the track is heavy on synth and persussion and while it might not be his finest work so far, it certainly had our ears pricked.
Hologram by Nihar Apte feat. Disco Puppet
Pleasantly demented Bangalore producer Disco Puppet lends his voice and skills to Delhi’s Nihar Apte (guitarist at Space Behind the Yellow Room) on his heavy new track ‘Hologram’. It’s definitely a bit all over the place but there’s an interesting rock influenced intensity to it that has some potential.
Words: Diya Gupta
Art credit (thumb): Rachna Ravi, edited by「 ezzyℒand 」™
Art credit (main): Tarqeeb