SCINTII — TIMES NEW ROMAN (PALMISTRY REMIX)

⌾ LISTEN TO SCINTII, TIMES NEW ROMAN (PALMISTRY REMIX) ⌾

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Firstly an undulating wash of post-trance sound, the static sea of scathing synths and hiss that marks the start of this track feels panoramic, witch house-tinged, maybe, but less pentagrams, more amorphous futuristic mode of transport. This harsh, nebulous swirl becomes the backdrop for a restless scuttle of garage-tinged beats — the propulsion at the heart of Palmistry's remix treatment for 'Times New Roman' by Shanghai-based Scintii.

Leaving its electrified cosmic cloud behind, the track dives into a glimmering shuffle of percussion and gloopy bass, pitched clangs simultaneously rooting it somewhere physical while also darkly ringing in a metaphysical realm, a club night on another plane of existence.

While Scintii's original 'Times New Roman' sees her voice creep amid a lurching forest of synth, Palmistry's reworking fragments the vocal and scatters it like silly putty throughout, adding human — if warped — warmth to its cold, kinetic vessel. The change tempo towards the end is natural, satisfyingly so, like a train slowing for a station, further emphasising the propulsive power of the track as the track draws to a fizzy, ethereal close.

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• 🔔 This track is out now via Houndstooth. You can stream it and purchase it as your heart desires from this list of services.
• 🔔 The original 'Times New Roman' was the result of a recording session with Danny L. Harle. "The main melody came to me while wandering round a shopping mall," Scintii says of the track "but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Then I had the session with Danny and it just worked with the beat he was making. It really started to become about me feeling sure of myself as a musician and producer, going in a new direction and really being able to maximise my own voice."

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📠
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🐣 BOD [包家巷] — EMPTY MOUNTAIN WEEPS ALONE [空山独哭]

The screaming cosmic synth that hits at the start of this track, it arrives scathing and scorching, but shot through in the midst of its scratchings and scrapings is this plasma modulation, a sense of the steel and unbridled progress of the present and its outstretched hands craving the years ahead and beyond. The decayed whistle and muffled impact of a bomb, the PA system speaking to the crowd as you embark a ship to a future industrial megacity. This is the scene-setting power of two-thirds noise one-third classical in 'Empty Mountain Weeps Alone [空山独哭]' by LA-based musicmaker Nicolas Zhu aka bod or Baojiaxiang[包家巷] ('Baojia Alley'), presumably named after the same street in Chengdu. Maybe not.

Halfway through this short sharp snippet of sound we are introduced to this gargantuan construction site, the glitching beat like heavy machinery working in unison clashing together cranes and cement mixers and all the movement and drills and hammers and metal and muscle carving away at the surface of the earth and constructing a cradle of consumerism. In the background the silken tones of a traditional Chinese lute-like instrument (there are many so to name one would be a guess), like a sigh of nature drowned out by the grunts of advancement, reminscent of the hole-boring mall-making and gaudy grandiosity at tourist destination Yangshuo. Nature as stomped on by humanity. And it ends, the rush of cars in the rain, piano sounding a gentle shrug as protest, a casual hands-in-pocket lonely lament.

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• 🔔 This wonderful experimental piece arrives from bod's upcoming release for Zoom Lens called Piano Compositions: a 17-minute piece of which this snippet is in fact the 3rd movement. It's out and available tomorrow (15th December).
• 🔔 Read about the strange carnival that is Yangshuo right here, which we wrote about as part of our Visits travel series.

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🐣 ELMARI — YOU KNOW ME

Taken on some sort of spacewalk now, the long weightless sway into starry void, the cosmic vacuum just existing there and a figure slowly spinning into some oblivion, it's not loneliness they feel as they drift but more a sense of solitary contentment, the secret mystery of oneness unfolding itself in the expanse. That is what it feels like anyway, 'You Know Me' by East London producer ElMari, it feels very space-destined, future-aligned, and that is first and foremost down to the nature of those synth chords: stripes of the heavens swipe in thin fizzing neon swathes of sound. But of course it's not just the actual quality of the sound itself, it's how that sound progresses that gives it this windingly slow velocity.

It's also the decreased attack and relatively low sustain of the synth which gives it that slow-motion feeling, along with the sparse beat, well placed clusters of hi-hat ticks and clacking snares as well as the syncopated solidity of the robust kicks, this lack of accentuation minimal nature summon that galactic feel, the simple melodic twinkling of synth mirrors the sparkle of distant celestial bodies, and the rumble of modulated bass in the middle gives intensity and power. But within there is something human, the vocal sample, stammering and effusing a sultry R&B flavour, and suddenly it wasn't a solitary spacewalk but an low-gravity airlock sex scene that this track conjures. Or maybe it's both.

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• 🔔 More of ElMari's releases can be found over on his Bandcamp for download and listening purposes.

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📣 LAZY INTERVIEW #30 — MARIUS

21-year-old Norwegian producer Marius swoops by to take part in this laziest interview series of all time. It's Friday and it's just about a week since the musicmaker had his debut EP Existence Problems released via Pelican Fly, the independent Belgian label responsible for introducing Cashmere Cat and Lido to the world, while also playing host to various other electronic entities like French producer Canblaster. Marius is in good company. And he deserves to be there: influenced by producers such as these as well as the psychedelics of Tame Impala and an earlier interest in progressive metal, his music is a crazy collage of ricochets and refractions, ideas echoed and warped.

Previously known as Melf, this year's moniker change kicked off with inaugural track 'Easy', which unfortunately didn't make it onto the EP—it's filled with maddened energy, a charge of breakbeats and popping percussion that gradually gives way to a coda that djents with distorted metal guitar satisfaction, showing a brilliance in the combination of disparate musical styles and elements. The EP's title track shows a softer side with a plinky rockpool of cute quirky sounds that also rains down a bullet hell of percussion in waves of delicious incoherency; latest track 'Lame' mixes up kaleidoscope psychedlia with slow voidsome beats. So far it's a triumph of originality that sees Marius slotting together jigsaw pieces that don't fit together, making new dishes from the buffet of influencers that have come before.

🐤


w h o   a r e   y o u ?   w h e r e   a r e   y o u   f r o m ?   w h a t   d o   y o u   d o ?

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My name is Marius and i am from Eidsvoll in Norway. I like to make music that I’ve never heard before.

h o w   d i d   y o u   s t a r t   c r e a t i n g   m u s i c ?

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I started creating music when I started playing the guitar. I played progressive metal and wanted to record my riffs. I had Garageband on my Mac, so I started programming drums and recorded my 7 string guitar.

h o w   w o u l d   y o u   d e s c r i b e   y o u r   s o u n d ?

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All over the place.

i s   t h e r e   a   p e r f e c t   t i m e   a n d   p l a c e   f o r   l i s t e n i n g   t o   y o u r   m u s i c ?

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I hope so! „
I like to make music that I've never heard before
” w h a t   i n s p i r e s   y o u   m o s t   w h e n   m a k i n g   a   t r a c k ?

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This is such a tough question. To be honest, I don’t know the answer. I think it’s a bit personal, and not something I can really put words to.

w h a t   i s   y o u r   m o s t   m e m o r a b l e   m u s i c a l   e x p e r i e n c e ?

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w h a t   a r e   y o u r   f a v o u r i t e   t h r e e   s o n g s   a t   t h e   m o m e n t ?

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Selmer – Surfin With U

Mindtrix – Moon Pigeons

Tame Impala – Reality in Motion

w h o   d o   y o u   m o s t   a d m i r e   i n   t h e   m u s i c   w o r l d ?

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This is another tough question. I admire a lot of people I think, but I think I subconsciously draw on a lot of influences when I write music. Everyone from guys like Flume to Lido, to bands like Tame Impala. My track on Pelican Fly, called 'Lame', is actually really heavily inspired by Tame Impala.

i n   y o u r   o p i n i o n ,   w h a t   i s   t h e   f u t u r e   o f   m u s i c ?

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w h a t ' s   t h e   f u t u r e   o f   y o u r   m u s i c   –   w h a t   d o   y o u   h o p e   t o   d o   n e x t ?

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I think these two questions I can answer together – as an artist I do dream that the future of music somehow involves something that I can contribute to. I think that’s a natural internal want for any artist – for your art to connect with people in new ways.

w h a t   i s   m o s t   i m p o r t a n t   t o   y o u ?

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• 🔔 Marius' debut Existence Problem EP is out now on Belgian label Pelican Fly.

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L  A  Z  Y    I N T E R V I E W    S E R I E S

← #29: WALTER EGO #31: TOUCH SENSITIVE →

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🐣 WALTER EGO — SENSU BEANS

In this track there is power and there is mysticism and there is beauty. A sort of expansive feeling that takes its cue from the reverb that seems to lance through clouds and into the stratosphere. A definite thud in the beat that has been bludgeoned into the shape of grime, sparse and robust, gaps where gaps feel good, the stop-start rhythm of it like a kickstart to the heart and blood pumping. And with this foundation, crinkling chimes form the main ornamentation, like gold foil covering jagged rocks on stark outcrops, jangling and warped and alien but warm in their mesmeric resounding.

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☞ YES/NO LAZY INTERVIEW #29 W WALTER EGO (September/2017) ☜

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This is the sound of Sheffield musicmaker Walter Ego. 'Sensu Beans' is essentially a classic minimalist grime instrumental with a futuristic lilt that channels Dragonball Z, the wholly fresh and weird and exciting feel of it with the homely nostalgic familiarity that this quite universal anime inspired and continues to inspire in many people. Combined with many samples presumably taken from the show itself – unplaceable, unintelligible but recognisable – the chimes summon that same alien warmth, a bulge of gradual bass creeping in the beat skittering virtuoso with clacking snares and hi-hats that tick staplegun and whirr uzi fast by turns and the sshh of sheafing shakers. And we are all healed, as well as amazed, by the miracle senzu beans.

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• 🔔 'Sensu Beans' is taken from Walter Ego's clearly DBZ-inspired Seven Star Ball EP, released last month via fellow Sheffield-based label Bad Taste Records. You can purchase the three-track wonder of hard beats and fluid sounds over here if you like.

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🐣 VENESSAMICHAELS — AFTER HOURS

Here we are in a world where past and future meet, a teetering limbo of a place that pops with pastel lightness, bold bass booms buttressing beneath the breezy surface. Here is a slice of post-rave late-'90s-early-'00s electronic dance music with syncopated synth chords chewy and sweet, wobbly fluttering neon chords like cotton candy, and all with a rumbling backdrop of beats that tumble noisy mouthwatering. 'After Hours' is a bright lamination of sucrose flavours founded on substantial elements that give the cradling haze of cuteness a standoffish sense of dance dislocation, highly impersonal but also highly loveheartable too.

Created by LA-based producer VenessaMichaels and inspired by Yūta Nishio (西尾雄太)'s manga After Hours, the track feels smooth to the touch, light but heavy like freshly kneaded dough, decorated with variegated tracts of synth that swirl sometimes half-abrasive and reflective of a feeling of confusion, echoed by the vocal samples which also call out not necessarily celebratory or triumphal but more like internal yells of life and living. The intro feels somewhat grave, verging on melancholic in the guitaresque arpeggio resonating with a cooling loneliness over the stumbling stutter of the beat. Raving and cute, inward facing yet extroverted, solid but hazy, 'After Hours' blows hot and cold in a really neat way, displaying two sides of the coin at the same time for an illustration of internal struggle and finding one's place in the world.

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• 🔔 VenessaMichaels collaborated with Viz Media for this track, which is of course named after the manga which they licensed towards the end of last year. The media group describe Yūta Nishio's After Hours as "a heartfelt story about a young queer woman coming into her own and finding her place in the world."

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🌭 KAMI-O — FEEL

The gradual creeping progression, the unsteady vibe the uneasy feeling, the atmosphere of paranoia, the cyclical introverted mantra of it all, this track is true to its name in that you can do nothing but feel it. The atonal modulation of the sample as it cuts in and out of the static silence as the track begins is unsettling, seeming to occupy a space between traditional notes, and already the speed of the track is evident as it flashes in and out like a nightmare of strobe. A ghoulish call-and-response falls into place as an immediate answer to each sample slice lasers in like plasma on supra-boil, a dislocated feel, jarring, but in so gratifying a way that you wish it'd go on and on glaring and gleaming with its digitised menace.

Glasgow-based producer Kami-O adds yet more elements, sliding them in as the song hurtles on its way forwards, the doof-thud of punchy kicks, uzi-fire hi-hats, and yet more in a plethora of percussion, a hurricane of hissing clicking ticking clacking tapping banging, a rhythmic collage of broken sounds that swish onwards whilst the quivering samples are checked and suppressed and brought back again in simple mathematical dynamics. The subtle rumble of sub, a rasping handclap. Like garage music made with trees and gravel as much as obsolete circuitboards and the troubled souls of broken computers and programming errors, 'Feel' is a phantasm of humans harangued by anxiety and obsession, a foreshadowing of our finding solace in machines.

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• 🔔 It is possible for you to download 'Feel' if you hop over to Kami-O's Bandcamp.

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T'CHALLA – WAKANDAN SONIX EP

Here is music from another world, a foray into a stark and colourful far-off slice of space-time; it's by Ghanaian producer T'Challa and it's an EP, a collection of instrumental beats released under the title Wakandan Sonix – a reference to the fictional African country of Wakanda that features in the Marvel universe. With this sense of extraordinary fiction in mind, the soundscapes that the producer, real name Khalid Iddisah, conjures are just the ticket: otherworldly, interdimensional, future-facing and unique, they summon unknown far-flung places and mind-spaces with brutal beat-led simplicity.

Whilst tagged "Trap", and certainly pertaining to the swagger for the most part, the tracks sometimes actually feel closer to the experimentalism of grime—the beats of 'Epic' hang in the air, wide and open, following a booming remix of The Internet's 'Special Affair', both tracks haunted by rattling hi-hats and clacking snares; 'Analog' has that sub-bass menace, but the beats feel fresh and simple, the chords are brooding and strange, the synth melodies plink playfully. The other remix, closing the EP, a bootleg of 'Because' by Smerz, in fact carves out a house beat as things get deep and dark and sufficiently groovesome. There is seemingly no one genre at work here, more one style at work, one sound, one slant and one direction.

The portal to paths untrod by humans is certainly open: refreshing chords ring out sharply and brightly against a sheer clatter of beats in 'Chaodic' as the tracks swings between these cosmic, sun-after-the-rain parts and its more trappish parts, where sub-bass hums as stuttering laser synths shoot by. 'Djin Music' (named after the supernatural beings, maybe) floats in, marching and whirling soft sounds above the crunch of bass, a church bell donging to signal unhinged saw-wave synthwork, a grimey feeling hung like a shroud over the thickets of percussion here. Personal favourite 'The Endz' is the epitome of grime: a filtered plasma blast for a bassline, the refrain of jangling strings, the jostle and crash of snare and hand-clap together, spacey sunrise synth chords brightening the tone as the track rollicks to its unexpected end.

T'Challa's beatscapes effuse difference and imagination, throw spanners and cog-busting objects into the workings of our minds as we try to figure out what it is or where we're being taken. Distinctions like 'light and dark' and 'future or past', traditional oppositions, seem to fuse in this producer's music. Likewise, simplicity and complexity work together as basic beat patterns and repeating melodies feel unique and intricate, lacing into one another, chasing each other in an un-world where un-things un-happen; a glance into a new dimension where chaos and beauty overlap with graceful severity.

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• You can listen to Wakandan Sonix in its entirety above or on SoundCloud.

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SAMUEL – THESE DAYS

Ever since I first heard Samuel's debut EP, Falling Star I was hooked. Here was a very fresh, very haunting new voice seeping into the music world. The EP was produced by Okzharp (of London-based outfit LV) and paired Samuel's aching vocals with a futuristic post-R&B sort of sound to a stunning degree of hypnotic clarity – though his voice, both then and now, feels as if it transcends any association with "dat future bass". Just like Samuel as a person, his voice is unique.

So thankfully this rare voice, this anti-commonplace set of vocal chords and their unconventional owner, is back for your ears to enjoy, beaming themselves into a new morsel of music called 'These Days'. Produced by London producer Kwes, it's a different sound to the type that graced the Falling Star EP – the cold, glacial, future-forward sounds are gone. However, the minimalism, which basically translates to the producer's careful consideration with Samuel's voice, is still there.

The production is bright, summerful and sunny, soft and soothing synth chords cushioning the vocals, with pockmarking plunks of bass left to peddle their simple subtleties below the meandering croons of Samuel rather than rumbling in-your-face. Clusters of homemade-sounding DIY-esque percussion clink and clankle in the chorus alongside shakers and the lonely thud of a kick as Samuel sings the cryptic hook, "These days are brighter than the sun, so tell me what you want / tell me what you want" – a sentiment reflected in the dripping innocence of this heat-warped music.

What else is good about this? The soaring vibe, the delicious synth sounds, the whole atmospheric, far-off feeling, the spirit of new romance, the deepness of the vocals coated in rich textures snaking through this cloud of production like a lone bird hovering silhouetted against vast blue, or even a the fleeting glint of a passenger plane caught by shards of sunlight amidst nonchalant clouds as it flies lonely and steady out of sight.

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• Please feel free to pre-order 'These Days' from Ninja Tune online shop (the Ninjashop) – or from Bandcamp. It gets released on 31st July via Ninja Tune subsidiary Big Dada.

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THE FUGEES VS. NAS – SURVIVING THE TIMES (BOEHM REMIX)

Here's something courtesy of Boehm, a musicmaker from Bucharest, Romania. A good mash-up (do people still call them that) is always appreciated, and here Mr. Boehm (perhaps named after the German musician/inventor) has shown that you can be wildly creative even when there are TWO original tracks to consider.

There are no holds barred in this future leaning remix, totally juddering with an addictive tropical beat and accented with the glorious reverb of beachside guitars with the occasional ornament of bendy slide guitar like a seagull swooping as a sunset splashes its muted fire over the still-warm sand and gentle sea.

Xylophone tumblings give this a lovely forest-jam flavour, I say forest but I mean more like a little copse of palm trees, a coastal vibe that incorporates jaunty harmonica from I don't know where. It samples 'Fu-Gee-La- by The Fugees, the hook from the track reworked and interspersed between verses from Nas' track 'Surviving The Times'.

All of it sounds perfect to the bouncy rhythm here, the piano chords and the groovesome synth bass and the soft, triumphal chords; the backdrop to wild synth solos that seem to diffuse into the air like a solar flare in reverse, or like the synth-happy soundtrack to one of my favourite SNES games, Top Gear. It even ends well, the instruments bowing out to each other as we're left with the wooden roller-coaster of the xylophone melody to contend with, amongst other things.

Luscious sounds and a rhythm you can totally groove to; perfect for listening or moving. Probably goes well with a bowl of unadon or as the last song to play at work before you leave to go home, glorious glorious home.

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Y/N GUEST MIX 019 :: IZZY'S CUP OF JOE W/ CREAMER MIX

Ok, so I tried to put this guest mix up the other day and it got blocked from being uploaded because of copyright. On one hand, fine, everyone needs to make money, I get that. But on the other: ¿why be so mercenary about it? What benefit do you get, really, from not allowing an tiny little music site like this one to upload a mix done by an up-and-coming artist just because it contains one track? "Oh but if everyone did it blah blah blah" – NEWSFLASH: everyone's NOT doing it. This isn't a protected beach that keeps getting all of its coral stolen.

This is people sharing things they like, telling a story with music, showing appreciation for other artists who might inspire you or just help you to get through the day thanks to their music. Shout out to all lines of code and robots and spiders out there blocking our freedom (not to mention the intellectual-property-appropriating jargon-spouting business boys and girls that create and endorse them).

Speaking of which, this is a mix by Izzy, one to help you get through the day, or one that at least illustrates a working day. Called his Cup of Joe w/ Creamer Mix (it is the second iteration of the mix with the offending track removed; the first had no creamer), this is the coffee you'd want at the start of a working day. What is creamer? I do not know. Is it this (non-dairy creamer)? Something milk-inspired, at least.

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I am Izzy, an individual looking to express myself through various creative mediums.

IZZY

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So now you might be wondering, Who is Izzy? Well, let's find out shall we? (A little bit, at least). "You may be able to find me trekking between the NY/Philly/Jersey area," he says cryptically. What does Izzy do? "I create. Whether it be music, photography, my sales job, I make sure I incorporate my own perspective to enrich my experience," he tells me. "I grew up on copious amounts of music. After a while making music just became something that I had to do."

Izzy briefly talks us through the inspiration for the mix: "These artists are all people who have inspired me in one way or another. People like AbJo, Toro y Moi, and Matt Martians, just to name a few, are constantly thinking about how they can further the music; I can relate to that." And with those artists he's weaved a simple background story for the mix itself: "Thematically, it feels like a recapitulation of an average morning," he explains, "the mellow feel of hitting the snooze button ('Aches' by me), literally getting into the 'Grind' midway (Mr. Carmack). Just gradually becoming acclimated to a new state of mind."

I imagine a lot of computer-based clicking and typing happening to the sound of 'Orange Juice Simpson' by Odd Future affiliates The Jet Age Of Tomorrow, with Izzy's own and fluidly brilliant – with its fragmented beats and warming sounds – 'Traveler's Cheque' being like a break for lunch or something, before the hectic 'Silvicide' and 'Navi's Dance' (by AbJo and PYRMDPLAZA, respectively) kick in to soundtrack the bustle of urgent bidness. I like to think the mad synth of aptly titled 'Synth City' by also aptly titled Chaos Kid is put in its place here for rush hour effect, the motion and movement of the track combined with its busy resonance to illustrate the quick crowds of hometime; which is where 'Mothership' (also by Izzy) with its feeling of exhaustion and desire to be someplace else comes in, back to the mothership for the night before another day at the grind.

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• T R A C K L I S T •

1. Telescope Thieves – R U Still Down
2. FKA Twigs – Ache (Reimagined by Izzy)
3. Toro y Moi — Rose Quartz
4. Sango — The Differences
5. Mr. Carmack — Grind (Lex)
6. The Jet Age Of Tomorrow — Orange Juice Simpson
7. Izzy – Traveler’s Cheque
8. AbJo — Silvicide
9. PYRMDPLAZA — Navi’s Dance
10. Flying Lotus — Such A Square
11. Chaos Kid — Synth City
12. Izzy — Mothership
13. Ta-ku — We Were In Love

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POST LOUIS – FRAGILITY (BEN HAUKE REMIX) • 初演 PREMIERE

Here is a remix of a song called 'Fragility' by London band, Post Louis. The original is something like a jagged escape to the country, a slice of guitar-led music that switches between slap-dash fuzzy sounds and melodic softness, a kind of art-pop indie feel that is many things at once, crashing beast morphs to curled-up cutie, as wonky and experimental as it is gentle and ear-friendly. You get the idea.

This remix is something else entirely. A different beast. Altered Beast. Another World. It is ultra-cool. Tiptoeing a tack that summons a smart and angled atmosphere, perfectly designed, intelligent and snappy. Sharp white-noise hi-hats count liberal time in the condominiums of the future in Ben Hauke's fabulous, glistening reworking of 'Fragility' – understated handclaps sneak in past the 10-foot-tall steroid-infected bouncers (don't worry about them, it's much better inside, you'll forget all about them, sit down, have a cocktail, it's on us).

A bassline with all the treble sucked out of it bounces the track along, lightly guided by the subtle boom of the kick, horn snippets rising through the walls like phantomatic, melodic car horns, quiet bongos veil like a mist as the alcohol begins to kick in – STRINGS, spectral strings, this is a sophisticated party after all. Vocals, messed with, submerged and surfaced and reverbing, chopped and thrown around, the iridescent lights catching the fluttering voices of people in the midst of this understated yet unrelenting dance-inducing track.

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• As you can see from the lil arrow, this is a FREE DOWNLOAD. Isn't that nice?
• This (well, the original) comes from Post Louis's Uptight EP, which you can check out on their SoundCloud.

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BLAZ – SINK

Waaaaa! Wows. This is a really cool sound. You fall through a wormhole into the centre of the Earth and come out the other side and realise you're in a different dimension where everything glints towards bioluminescence and in the air there is the aroma of biological immortality achieved through hundreds of years of research on Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish and transdifferentiation. Everyone lives forever and nothing is sacred yet we wonder still why and how everything is as it is. Humanity bulges in our corner of the universe and religion is a fairytale and we are all individualist libertarians.

Anyway, like, that's kinda what I felt when I listened to this track. It's by a person from Austin, Texas, who makes music under the name of Blaz. The track itself is called 'Sink' and, well yeah, it's kinda like sinking. First inspired to make electronic music whilst living in France a few years ago, Blaz calls it "very shiny and digital" and that's it on a basic level. In an email to Y/N, Blaz also shared some background information about the song: "The inspiration for it was old N64 video games... and a desire to take some of the recent PC Music sound, which I love, and twist it into something a little darker and heavier."

From the start, eternal arpeggios stream into your ears like schizoid pulsar stars, glassy galactic fog breathing with it, spiralling towards the main body of the track.

Tumbling fragmented kicks ba-dum-ba-dum-dum beneath, which become a regular beat punctuated with kung-fu-punch snare-claps, occasioned with stark synth chords blasting, which break into a melody towards the end alongside rollicking snares for building up and virtuoso popping sounds in what could be one of the regular favourites at the juke-specialising Club Satellite orbiting the earth (circa 2376), a slowdown retro sample ringing out: "This is how we—" ("—do it," I guess).

• THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD, SO WHY NOT.
• Also check out Blaz's Kirby EP, full of more WALL OF SYNTH sounds.

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☟ Blaz Social Media Presence ☟
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Y/N GUEST MIX 017 :: MEMORY CARDS PROJECT DREAM MIX

It's that time again. Another guest mix from an artist we like. This time around it's the turn of Memory Cards. He's a musicmaker who began making music in LA but currently resides in Arizona who makes super dreamy trap-flavoured music. The kind of thing that has been labelled "otaku trap" (kinda for good reason, in that much of the music is at least anime-inspired, with some out-and-out covers/remixes of anime themes, etc.) of late. But labels are for card catalogues.

"If I had to pick a season for this," Mr Memory Cards (irl name Jonathan) tells me via email, "I think this suits the beginning of fall more." And right now, as I write this listening to the mix for severalth time, looking out the window at grey-white sky and permanent rain, I can safely say that I totally agree. So this is when it's happening. Listen to this mix and kick up some dead leaves.

Why is it called Project Dream? And why is the artwork like it is? Both are inspired by Initial D, a manga/anime that is centred around the world of illegal street racing in Japan, of which Memory Cards had just started watching the final season at the time of making this mix.

I ask him what inspires his own music. "Nostalgia," he says. "For me, a vital part of the music making process involves introspection and seeing how my recollections can be incorporated into the work I make. Since for the most part the music I make doesn't really have words (or at least my own words) it's difficult to explicitly articulate these concepts. However, I try and draw inspiration from forms of media and popular culture that have brought me joy in the past. By doing so, I hope that I can at least partially convey who I am, where I've been and where I'm going not just as a producer or a musician but as a person as well.

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I dream a lot

MEMORY CARDS

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And what about the mix itself? "Really the only unifying theme with this mix is that they're all tracks that I've been very much enjoying lately," he explains. "Some of the tracks have a sort of eerie menace to them while some have a more jubilant nature to them. Others still carry an air of sweetness tinged with a shade of melancholy, so there's a variation in what I consider to be the themes of the songs I chose." He then adds something that seems to be an overriding theme of internet music: "I would also like to say that I consider myself friends with or at least acquaintances of a good portion of the producers featured here."

It's solidarity, a support network of artists who are at least right now eternally collaborating with each other, bigging each other up, and generally just being nice to one another. Since it's not a local scene, you don't have to "put up" with people, you choose your friend group based mainly and firstly on similar interests rather than spatial limitations; these pockets collect online, attract more people. Soon enough you have a veritable movement.

So from the stand-out electronic atmospherics of the Sonic Adventure-inspired indoors track 'Mystic Ruins' made for the pretty cool CHAO GARDEN compilation (curated by collective MECHA YURI and Memory Cards' own floating cloud sparkling euphoria in 'Fantasia Arc', to the glitzy ambient/future funk crossover in 'SUMMER VI', a collaboration between Bansheebeat and Yung Bae, to Shoujo Eyes and his track 'My Magical Girl' playing us out with gorgeous chiptune melodies, this mix is as varied and evocative as Memory Cards said it'd be, bristling with thickets of machine gun hi-hats and videogame samples (Link swinging his sword in ☆ＩＣＥＡＧＥ☆ by allegedly 14yo producer, manitee, or original Smash Bros. "choose your character" sounds in Cosmastly & Heavy Hearts collab, 'Fighting Polygon Team') – a great showcase of young producers making music right now.

Plus I think I finally got Memory Cards' name – it's all about recollections, memories… memory cards… store memories… of games.

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• T R A C K L I S T •

1. 32jnqwn-_-_-_ - ECSTATIC CLARITY
2. memory cards - Fantasia Arc
3. Childish Gambino – candler road (memory cards Chopped & Screwed Edit)
4. indoors - mystic ruins
5. Oliver~ - <3 Sosa Screwx
6. Howlings - What We Could Have Been
7. mizukage - OG Bobby
8. tones_ - heal 
9. HiGHBRiD - N E X U S
10. grèg - 水族館 (将来)
11. highbrid x memory cards - bandana . witta . mullet
12. // Hydro // - ~ R E A C H ~
13. manitee - ☆ＩＣＥＡＧＥ☆ (1.5k special free dl)
14. ║丂ｲ乇√乇刀 ۩ d乇乃ﾚﾑƬ║ - ｃｌｅｍｅｎｔｉｎｅ// ありがとう『feat. NET WORTHY』 
15. d o w n s † a † e - i c e ` g r a v e
16. ║丂ｲ乇√乇刀 ۩ d乇乃ﾚﾑƬ║ -ｉ ｄｏｎｔ ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ… (•̩̩̩̩＿•̩̩̩̩) ……╔ feat. H i G H B R i D ☥╗ 
17. [bansheebeat + yung bae] - SUMMER VI 
18. COSMASTLY ✗ HEAVY HEARTS - FIGHTING POLYGON TEAM
19. A$AP Rocky - Wassup (LOSTSVUND Remix)
20. ILOVEMAKONNEN - Tuesday (ft. Drake) (MXRA & LOSTSVUND Remix)
21. Shoujo Eyes - My Magical Girl

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☟ Memory Cards Social Media Presence ☟
Facebook • SoundCloud • Bandcamp • Twitter • Tumblr

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METOME – SALAMANDER

Ah! Oof! Shit yes! Do you know what I mean? That's basically the sound of someone enjoying a spot of music. Namely, it's me. But it's weird to think that I would never, ever have this kind of reaction in everyday life – I'm quite reserved really, in general. SO I CAN BE MAD WHEN I WRITE. AND WHAT MAKES ME MAD IN A GOOD WAY? SUPER GOOD MUSIC, THAT'S WHAT.

AN EXAMPLE (ok that's enough) an example of some super good music is the inexplicably talented Japanese producer Metome. My love affair with Takahiro Uchibori (the real name of Metome) began last year, with his incredible fusion of deep house, lounge and funk in the sample-heavy 'Water Cycle' – if you have never heard it, I supremely urge you to check it the hell out. This was followed up with the ultimate in sultry lounge romance: 'Take This Love' – which in turn was followed by more and more and more (JUST check his soundcloud).

But right now, Metome's latest track 'Salamander' has got me going. More overtly dance-oriented, it's the kinda thing that could whip a crowd into a foaming frenzy in just a few seconds. Hear why by listening to it with your ears.

Characteristically full of samples, the song is a stuttering machine-gun rattle of sounds, an assault of pleasure in the form of popping, juddering samples and a beat that follows it; a hail of holographic candies that burst all over your brain with all the same vibrancy that explodes in an abstract Kandinsky painting (for instance, a single snapshot taken at some point in 'Salamander' could easily look like this) – shapes and lines and colour! TRUE EXCITEMENT; this wild repetition leads into thick-curry-rich sparkling synth chords to slow things down, epically aligned, before jumping back into the fighting-grasshopper lightning tangle of sounds. What more can I say?

• For more fun with Metome, why not check out this Y/N Lazy Interview in which he was kind enough to partake?
• Salamanders are not reptiles, they're amphibians.

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Metome on… → Facebook • Soundcloud • Bandcamp • official site • Twitter

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VIDEOS – RUN (FVLCRVM REMIX) [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Last time we heard from this Bratislava-based musicmaker he had just finished making his Notch EP, a little journey through some grittily futuristic flavoured music (released on Slovakian label, Gergaz Records). I wasn't expecting to hear anything more from him (him being Pišta Kráľovič aka FVLCRVM) for a while, so it was a lovely surprise to get an email from him yesterday, letting me know about his latest creations.

The first of these is a remix for Norwegian singer Samsaya's latest (and from what I can work out, only) song 'Stereotype'; FVLCRVM goes in hard with a booming jungle-esque treatment, working with the classic jungle clatter and combining it with itchingly fresh electronic sounds, totally transforming the catchy and dirty pop of the original. I liked this. You can listen to it here (CLICK). Allegedly it was part of a remix competition, and FVLCRVM was one of the winners! (It's a free download, too).

But the real treat came with his latest release: a remix of Prague-based band Videos' track 'Run' – tagged amicably with "praguetislava".

Well! Hmm! What do you think? Isn't this just dreamy? Well actually, I'd say that the original 'Run' is more dreamy, being a combination of floaty dreampop and 80s-style electropop, with grinding synths, fat, fuzzy drums, and bleak Ian Curtis-style vocals. What FVLCRVM does is out-of-this-world, blanketing the track with a mist of heavenly chords, allowing the vocals to surface occasionally like bubbles from the sea; soon this all changes.

Claps and tiny snare sounds and jingling hi-hats, along with human breath noises for percussion, herald the true beginning of the song, with hefty mouthfuls of synth chord blasting out with a cosmic progression, backed up by rumbly bass; a small distorted melody pops up every now and again with the intensity of phantom signals from space. Vocal samples of the original pockmark the track, which is also decorated with a few beautiful drum edits (one particularly at 3:07 grabs your ears nicely), throughout its journey from calm – through the energetic middle – and back to primordial calm once more.

FVLCRVM's future-forward style stops at nothing in order to leap feet-first into the forefront of your imagination. Let's hope that his next offering is just as interesting and palatable as this!

• This track is available as a free download!!! FVLCRVM himself says: "don't worry w/ the email. I'll only post new tracks. spamless!" – so don't worry!

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Like FVLCRVM on Facebook
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Listen to FVLCRVM on SoundCloud
Hear more FVLCRVM on Mixcloud

ALSO: check out Videos on SoundCloud

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METOME – SAMPLE CHAIR [FREE DOWNLOAD]

It's only been a few weeks since we heard from prodigious Japanese producer Takahiro Uchibori, aka Metome – in the form of the moody 'Rainmaker' and its ominous video – but already there's something new for us all to savour. Yep, he's as prolific as he is good. And this time around it's something a bit different to the norm; usually Metome is all sumptuous post-lounge with free-flowing jazz instrumentals and rapid-fire sampling— usually.

But the oddly yet somehow brilliantly named 'Sample Chair' is a sketch of something different, a foray into a different set of sounds, an experiment with wide synths that seem to have been given off by some distant space ship somewhere, a far-flung space-disco orbiting a planet where we'll arrive hundreds if not thousands of years from now. Perhaps that's the case. The other possibility is that Takahiro's mind is as elastic and frenetic as his sounds, and hence the seeming strangeness of 'Sample Chair'.

That of course is not say that it isn't good. It's great! Irregular bouts of keyless almost atonal synths pop up unexpectedly, bouncing around as if being thrown and somersaulted in low gravity; here the virtuosity isn't in the notes themselves, but how the notes are manipulated, how they are placed with regard to rhythm, or maybe more accurately with no regard to rhythm. Organic kicks and claps and clicks occasionally pop up; the melody whirlwinds at times in a frenzied storm; high-register vocal samples chirp in the expansive galaxy of the blissful chords.

There is almost no reverb at work here at all, invoking a heavier sense of silence or rather the space between sounds than previous Metome tracks, which often were hazed or lightly breezed with soft and pretty reverberating sounds. It's experimental, taking the essence of glitch (look at the track image for instance) – which is to create glitchy sounds – and using it to instead twist and manipulate his sounds in natural, real-life, less digitised ways, as if his synths are putty that he simply plays with.

• Discover a lil more about the lovely Metome w this lil interview he did for YES/NO

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Like Metome on Facebook
Listen to Metome on Soundcloud
Hear more Metome on bandcamp
Visit Metome's official site
Follow Metome on Twitter

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AUX JENNINGS – NEED ME [FREE DOWNLOAD]

I love a nice collective. Who doesn't? Collectives seem to be where it's at these days. Like there are quite a few atm like A$AP Mob, Odd Future (OFWGKTA), New Generation, Futures Collective… each one is hotbed of collaborative creativity. Of course, individual endeavours abound and are actively supported and bigged up by other collective members – a karmic utopia of encouragement. Having friends is really nice, but having likeminded friends as set as you are on having your music heard by the world at large must be something else entirely.

What does this have to do with anything? Well this guy Aux Jennings is part of Halifax (Canada) collective Weirdo Click. That's where it all fits in, you see? Anyway, a few-few days ago Aux dropped a brand new EP, MuckAFolly, a collection of electronically charged smooth tracks packed with the distinctive flow of the 21-year-old rapper and producer. Purportedly, it's anti- its own genre, something that we all know glorifies some iffy aspects of itself (drugs etc.) and that is certainly a good starting point for any new artist of any genre. Speaking out.

Let's have a listen to one of the tracks from MuckAFolly, the gentle sway that is 'Need Me'.

Leading in with some bubblesome pops of synth chord, becoming the riff throughout, the track rests on slow sub kicks and skeletal rattling hi-hats skittering with precision. It's true simplicity, those chords not crowding the space, allowing time for the glassily reverbing sounds to breathe for themselves not enmeshed within other instruments. Aux's flow itself is interesting, moving ahead with as much commanding fluency in its slower moments as in the doubletime segments, layered with animated screeches to mirror more darkly the bars bouncing along, tackling with frustrated sincerity the many needs of a needy girlfriend (or so it seems).

It's generally just a great sound, a trappish hip hop that employs near-futuristic noises to give it this otherworldly feeling, an escape from the reality that the words themselves convey. Young talent like this (Aux produced all of this too btw), with all its individual nuances, paves the way for new movements in music, new trends, providing a fresh outlook on life as every singular mind could. Determination! That's all you need, after an idea or some talent. Anyway, you can download this track for free, or download the whole MuckAFolly EP here for free (clickety-click!).

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Like Aux Jennings on Facebook
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Follow Aux Jennings on Twitter
Check Weirdo Click on Tumblr

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LAZY INTERVIEW #20: SUPERFOOD

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← #19: BRETON #21: DCUP →

I didn't find or didn't try to find a suitable image for this particular little piece, so I made one. What it is, as you can see, is the word Superfood, in stylised font of course, repeated six times. It's a good thing that who I'm writing about is actually a band called Superfood, and not a band that has a completely different name. Did my research, you see.

However, in all seriousness, I'm here to talk about a band. It is a band from the Midlands – Birmingham, specifically – called Superfood. I've said that already, but saying it again makes you think of the name a little more. Remember it. Savour it. Let it flash in your mind like a gently alluring neon sign. Because that's what it should be doing. And if it isn't, and you haven't heard their music, then their music should have the same effect on you. Why? Cause it's real good, that's why.

First encountering the band at the start of summer in the form of a self-titled demo, I basically got addicted to their sound there and then. Moving onto another demo called 'TV', whose lyrical content included such things close to my heart as being unable to sleep unless the TV was on quietly in the background, they've since picked up the pace with a video for their latest tune 'Melting'. And just yesterday, they released a 12" of two songs: Bubbles/Melting – get that HERE.

But what they sound like? A kind of revitalisation of Britpop, quirky guitar melodies played slapdash-style in a kind of Anglo-Weezer sound with all the beautifully mundane lyrics and laid-back style that has given and still gives British music its sense of cool. Kind of like that. Or to sum all that up in two words: "college rock"... In other news, the band's frontman – Dom Ganderton – was kind enough to lend his time and brain to this latest edition of the Lazy Interview.

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
My name is Dom, I am from the beautiful Midlands and I play guitar and sing in Superfood.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
I don't think there was ever a conscious decision to get into music initially, it was just after I had some cello lessons at primary school that I kind of drifted onto guitar and carried on until now. The reason me and Ryan started Superfood however was because we had both had a few years out of playing in bands and only having a computer to jam with became quite stale. We both kind of realised how much writing songs and singing them meant to us and how it kind of emptied a tank in our heads that would otherwise just overflow and send us bonkers. I'm really happy that I'm not completely bonkers yet.

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
This is always such a tricky question as I feel that we're really not going to know exactly who we are as a band till after we've had a little more time together and got an album down and stuff. It's pretty songwriting with big beats that's a little rough around the edges.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
Right now the best place to listen to our songs is in a 200 cap club while we are on stage playing but we want to bring it to the bedroom dancers and pre-lash legends.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
I think what's inspired our songs so far are the two years we took out of being in bands dancing in nightclubs, trying to pay rent and attempting to go to university. But inspiration musically can come from anything. We wrote a song using this old harp my sister made in school years ago.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
So far it has to be this *moment* I had half way through out UK tour with Peace, I can't remember where we were but we were halfway through our set and there was like 5 or 6 seconds where I was like fuck we're actually pulling this off... Kudos.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?
The Turtles - I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)
Isley Brothers - Love The One You're With
The Cardigans - Been It

Who do you most admire in the music world?
Jeff Lynne

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
I reckon the future of music is for people to realise that you don't have to be futuristic and use machines to make music evolve. I think people need to get back to the fact that music requires real instruments played by humans. Computers are great tools but people shouldn't rely on them as a main component of their sound.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
We're going into record our album in the new year and hopefully we're going tour Scotland a lot fingers crossed.

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
...

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Due to the luxuries of censorship, I'm unable to tell you the answer to that last question. Sorry. But I can tell you that along with sounding like a perfectly down-to-earth chap with honest intentions with regards to music, feeling impulsed to write, sing and play, Dom also has a good sense of humour. A sense of humour is key. Taking oneself too seriously leads to being unable to take a joke, and stuff like going completely crazy on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

But with that little apologetic and revelatory blip outta the way, to wrap up, it seems that Superfood, at least with Dom involved (cause I don't know what the rest of the band – Carl Griffin (drums), Emily Baker (bass), Ryan Malcolm (guitars) – think), are onto a winner. Songs that spill naturally from people's minds, the work of wordless, intangible inspiration, are often quite good songs; it's been true so far. Gloriously stepping into the future without relying on typical tropes of "futuristic" music, Superfood fill a void in Britain's musical landscape that eschews effects and electronic instruments in favour of "real instruments played by humans". Of course, they haven't been around for long, so what the future holds: who knows?

However, without wanting to sound too dramatic, these guys manage to create music that is not too dominated by throwbacks to past eras, not trusting computers for palatable and zeitgeistical gimmicks – music that sounds like it's from exactly when and where it's from, played honestly and without pretence. GET TO KNOW.

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← #19: BRETON #21: DCUP →

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Like Superfood on Facebook
Visit Superfood official site
Follow Superfood on Twitter
Watch Superfood on YouTube

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FAST BOO TIMES SQUARE [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Something for you from Spain (or Catalonia, depends on your view), or more specifically, Barcelona. It arrives in the form of a new project from duo RCA Flacos (a union between DJ/producers Jai el Flaco and RCA Victor, named after the blues, jazz & world music label of the same name) – a brand new, project in fact, named Fast Boo. Whether or not it references a particularly zippy ghost from Mario, they released their very latest, newest and only single last month in the form of 'Times Square'.

A medley of instruments and vocals – with the voices of B. Gina, Crizz Vazz & Rico Smith, Quim Muns on bass and Roger Martínez providing saxophone – the track was ultimately conceived by Fast Boo. It's a futuristic track that plays with the current intergalactic style of R&B floating around now, the kind of thing that sheds its shackles to the Earth and soars out into space with a pair of shutter shades and all the surgical sheen of a neat, catwalk-born astronaut. The deep bass kicks, sometimes accompanied by a gently distorted slice of bass, underpin a phasing set of synth chords that glisten in waves of climactic vibration.

With this, the vocals follow the same melody as the saxophone in a slow pattern that exudes the wonderment of witnessing some landscape for the first time, or recalling the slow nostalgia of such a memory, as is the case here (I assume) with regards to the bustling lightshow of Times Square. Altered sometimes into vocoder spaceman style wordings, the vocals add a human element to the track that keeps it, whilst in space, at least in orbit around our little planet. It's a sumptuous song that drips modernity, alongside small snippets of memory in the form of 80s snare-drum smashes, with a sensual groove that has you swaying in swirls of indefinable bliss.

If this is the first thing that Fast Boo are offering to the world – a post-R&B, slo-swing pop number – we probably have many more treats in store from these guys as time goes on.

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Like Fast Boo on Facebook
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