☟YES/NO☟: Getting To Know You

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

SPAZZKID LIVE ON #SPF420

Yeah, if you're reading this thinking, "wtf is #SPF420??" then you are in the same boat as I am. That is, a boat adrift and constantly in wonder at what marvels/marvel at what wonders can be found on the internet. There's a lot to find. Anyway, I should probably explain what exactly #SPF420 is.

It is an online venue, unique in that it exists exclusively online, and it is a veritable hotbed of New Generation artists - I explained a little about New Generation when I wrote about SAINT PEPSI - one of the brains behind it all - a few days ago, but to reiterate basically: it's an artist collective leaning towards a wholly net-based music industry (my assumption). Alongside SAINT PEPSI are many other artists including Spazzkid, whom I wrote about the other day.

Enough of the Pokémon-style digression into the proclivities of this artist collective. More about the music. The reason I'm writing this is that Spazzkid has gone and done a 25-minute set on #SPF420, which aired yesterday. Astoundingly, this only has (at time of writing) 7 views, which is mental considering the sound of the music itself - not so mental if you consider the pitfalls of being a relatively unknown artist. Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy the smooth, wholly chilled vibes of this man's innovative beat-strong glitch-hop electro-pop.

The tracklist is this:
1. Forgiveness
2. Kokeshi Doll
3. Getting To Know You
4. Better Off Alone (Alice DeeJay cover) UNRELEASED
5. Loving Free

Yep, from the clicky otherworldly ambience of 'Forgiveness', to the sombre sunset romance vibes of 'Kokeshi Doll' - both with their fair share of bassy rumblings - we arrive at the wonderfully cute 'Getting To Know You' with its bouncy vocal samples. Then a surprise cover of Dutch Eurodance group Alice DeeJay's massive 1999 hit 'Better Off Alone', done to Spazzkid's trademark swaggering beat and complete with mind-ooze synths and steel drums. The set ends with the ravey 'Loving Free', a sharp cross between lo-fi bedroom pop and the soundtrack to people playing volleyball on a yacht harboured in the Maldives.

The visuals are great, too, and found according to Mark Redito (real name of Spazzkid) "from deep internets". Certainly looks that way. In any case, they're cool and fit the style of his music totally. He also looks like he is having a very nice time playing the music that I can only assume he loves making.

All songs come from his new album Desire, which is totally out now.

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Listen to Spazzkid on Soundcloud
Hear more Spazzkid on bandcamp
Visit Spazzkid's official site
Follow Spazzkid on Twitter
Check Spazzkid on Tumblr
Watch Spazzkid on YouTube

Like New Generation Collective on Facebook
Like #SPF420 on Facebook, too
Keep an eye on #SPF420 online venue

Sunday, 26 May 2013

SPAZZKID GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Hello. There is some music that is created with such an atmosphere, music that evokes different fantasy worlds almost, ones that you can taste on the tip of your tongue and feel on your skin like rays of light from the sky of a world with two suns; or if that scares you, just a regular perfect-world version of our own world. Colours alive, gentle breezes, mild nights.

Yeah yeah, this is the kind of vibe that inhabits 'Getting To Know You' by Spazzkid - but who is that? Well otherwise known by the real world name of Mark Redito, he comes from Manila but currently resides in LA. What he has created is a sonic wonderland, the perfect scenery for the passing of a perfect day, a beautiful escapist soundtrack that bursts with carefree electricity and popping colours that paint the fantasy-land as it moves along, like a stage from Yoshi's Island or something.

I suppose in a way the song is reflective of its title: it illustrates all the butterflies and small smiles that accompany the sweet feeling of getting to know somebody that you already know that you like a lot. It's sentimental without being emotional, capturing instead the side of emotion that triggers haphazard happiness. See fo yo self.

Cutesy synth piano sets down the melody and cut-up acoustic guitar chords gives the song its foundation, to which a nicely modulated bass responds in kind. Interestingly, the whole song is backed with a dubstep beat - I don't like saying that though because it makes the song sound as though it is a "dubstep" song, which it ain't. It's a half-speed drum and bass rhythm, giving it a laid-back-yet-restless feel. Vocal samples feature throughout, yet are at their best in the song's halfway breakdown, when the beat is given room to breathe - here the vocal samples are chopped up and used as an instrument themselves. At this point, too, a solo synth melds over the top: lovely sound, like a stylophone.

Towards the end, a nerf-machine-gun type popping synth sound - a synth tom drum, maybe? - crazes its way towards the finish. A very electro-pop sound, in a world of cute-chill. There are also vocals from Mr Spazzkid himself, lo-fi and reverberated, that pop up just a few times in the song. Overall, everything in this song comes along in such varied ways and the dynamics are played with - it's a playground of sound that is just too fun not to listen to at least twice in a row upon first hearing. I know I did.