Brilliant! That's the first word I'll say about this. But before I even begin to tip-tap some words out about the song itself: Just WHO is Valiant Vermin anyway? FURTHERMORE — Eggroll…?!
(The) Valiant Vermin aka Bettina Campomanes is a young (I believe currently she is 17) producer from the Philippines. A self-described bedroom project, the Facebook page for it shows off Campomanes' modesty and humour: her bio reads "I didn't want to go outside so this happened," whilst her description is "I'm 16 years young and bored as hell." The very epitome of bedroom producer if ever there was one. Bettina is also a prized member of the Manila-based artist collective, Youngliquidgang – the co-founder of which, Zeon Gomez (aka Ulzzang Pistol), made a lovely guest mix (#014) for Y/N recently showcasing the group's talent; it included the electro-pop goodness of 'Good Girls Sin' by VV herself.
Her latest track is an impressive remix of an obscure and rather ungoogleable '80s duo, Eggroll. Called 'No Satisfaction', the original is as '80s synthpop as you can imagine: power drums, keytars, twangly guitar. I was gonna just link you to the video (dated 1987, aired on NY Public Access) but I'll embed it at the end of this post because you'd like it probably.
Anyway: the remix is a different kettle of fish.
Taking the strong, soulful vocals of the original, Valiant Vermin puts these to use in an extremely appealing way, setting them above an elastically punchy four-on-the-floor beat and syncopated stabs of robust house piano, as well as the occasional synth chord. Wheeling synth melody screams over the top with all the exciting intensity of Sonic 2's Chemical Plant Zone – but more jazz, less urgency. Speaking of jazz, piano fills spill over between chords in virtuosic fashion, further highlighting the elated funk of this track. It's house, classic 90s house – with a dash of French-touch sound – combined with the fun-loving nature of jazz and electro, simply brimming with energy. Download it for free!
Two things are immediately clear: 1. To find & utilise well such an obscure gem; 2. Production is high quality. Here is a talent still relatively undiscovered, from somebody barely even an adult (in the true sense of the word) yet. You can only hope that Miss Campomanes continues on this creative path; who knows what she will dream up in years to come.
And, as promised…
Like The Valiant Vermin on Facebook
Listen to The Valiant Vermin on SoundCloud
Follow The Valiant Vermin on Twitter
Visit The Valiant Vermin on Tumblr
Check The Valiant Vermin on Instagram
No comments:
Post a Comment