🐣 OKAY(K) — FRANK OCEAN [初演 • PREMIERE]

⌾ LISTEN TO FRANK OCEAN BY OKAY(K) ⌾

---

The gooey shimmer of the guitar in 'Frank Ocean' by okay(K) is the track's soulful foundation, the fuzzed out, lo-fi quality of it echoing his recent New York EP. It's a mellow mood-setter that balances between emotion and total chill, which is reflected in the lyrics, breathlessly, nonchalantly recited in a stream of hefty layering and warp that puts a cloudy distance between listener and emotive lines.

Things like, "Nike kicks are in the dirt / I don't ever wna work / What are Nikes even worth" as well as "She gon show up where I live / please don't show up where I live" summon a kind of nihilism, ceasing to care but without the outward doom that goes with it. Even when okay(K) mentions "demons at my neck" they are merely "gross", the same sense of humour that also has him rhyming "lazy" with "Lays-y" (the adjective describing Fritos obviously).

The (mostly) seven syllable lines of the track's midsection give every statement a natural pause, staccato space for the lyrics to breathe, to be thought about, furthering that pensive mood; hearing his actual recorded voice in the gloop and crunch of the layered vocal effects becomes poignant after a while.

All set to a clanking, slow shuffle of a beat, okay(K) succinctly explained the horizontal R&B feels of 'Frank Ocean' when we asked about the track over email: "the ocean be flowing man," he wrote to us. "im just tryna flow like the ocean, to be frank." It's a moment of self reflection, as witnessed through a prism of lyrical versatility and skewed chill.

---

• 🔔 Listen to more okay(K) over on his SoundCloud.

---

---

📠
☟ okay(K) Internet Presence ☟
soundcloud ⚘ tumblr ⚘ twitter ⚘ instagram ⚘ spotify ⚘

---

---

🐣 DIEGO RAPOSO — MAISON MARGIELA

The rippling of waves and the turquoise totality of a tropical sea, the pale blue deep sky, here it is painted for you with sun-melted instruments, half-decayed rounded synths that lilt and curve crackling and tilt swerving in and out of the water, a jetski of sound, in that there is this paradisiacal setting as blotted boldly on an absorbent canvas bleeding nicely into the blank space the void of sound that also makes this track so impacting, in that, but also in the motion of it, the kinetic energy of the track in its 4/4 beat, in the tumbling sub-bass that joins in, rolling like the underside of waves through the shallows and fish nonchalant swooping back and forth in the current whipping into coral caves and the sun glinting treasurely around it all.

Arriving from the brain of Dominican Republic-located musicmaker Diego Raposo, 'Maison Margiela' – referring inexplicably to the Paris fashion house of the same name – the track is a big summoner of aquatic activities, calling to mind the liquid carvings and acrobatics of the 3D Wave Race games. But alongside this imaginary conjuring of palm-lined beaches and the swoon of the waves as they tumble softly onto the sand, there is quite concrete tropicalia at the heart of the song, with the track's description noting that it "blends dembow and dancehall to the traditional Brazilian baile funk/carioca"—to this end there are shakers, metallic sheafing hi-hats, insectoid scuttling bubbling noises whizzing around, painting relative intricacy over the elegant simplicity of the track.

---

• 🔔 This wonderfully hot and water-droplet-strewn track arrives as the second single in the Wavy series curated by Dominican Republic label/art-collective MITEL DICO, of which Diego Raposo is co-founder.

---

---

📠
☟ Diego Raposo Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ bandcamp ⚘ twitter ⚘ instagram ⚘ beatport ⚘ songkick

---

---

🐣 E.M.M.A — MINDMAZE

Two indomitable styles of dance music come together here. One is from the past, all flutes and lutes fluttering and harpsichord trilling, with no percussion except the sound of fervent court dancers and baroque celebrities hoisting their skirts to show off their fancy footwork, the era of clammy hand-holding in a collective series of movements including gentle twirls and partner swapping. The other style is rooted in dancehall, just as clammy if not more so but with less collectivism and more individual flair, and wholly centred on the beat pouring out of the soundsystem and onto the sultry writhing dancefloor.

In 'Mindmaze' London producer E.M.M.A fuses the breezy proprieties of delicate medieval court music with the marching mayhem of dancehall-flavoured beats, a trundle of rolling abrasive snares and rapid-fire handclaps that lock in with snippets of that courtly music of yesteryear. However there is a twist. And the twist is that these fine melodies are actually lifted from the music of Mindmaze, the educational diluted dungeon crawler that came with childhood-summoning e-encyclopedia, Encarta '95. The choice of source material speaks of junior schools in Autumn, installing the CD-ROM on your family computer, working your way through the maze—but more than that it simply conjures youth, not with abstract references, faux-'80s remembrances, but with a concrete trinket from the old days; and the cocktailing of that with a current rhythm suggests that this is more than vacant nostalgia, something closer – with its strong booming beats and naturally playful nature – to an extension of youth, a refusal of adulthood.

---

• 🔔 This track arrives alongside another called 'Pumpkin Emoji', both of which will comprise a 12" single from E.M.M.A to be released on 10th of November via Coyote Records. You may pre-order it by clicking on this exact hyperlink and selecting from a series of options.

---

---

📠
☟ E.M.M.A Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ twitter

---

---

🐣 CORD LABUHN — HEARTSHIPS

Sounds from here, sounds from there, sounds from everywhere in this buzzing collage of sound, a list of luscious samples located and lifted into the frame of 'Heartships' by Berlin-based musicmaker Cord Labuhn. Record scratches, vintage crackling thumps, bass kicks, a delicious fingerclick, trickling hi-hat ticks—a treasure trove of percussion beats out an exploded hip-hop rhythm, sparse and minimalist to an extent, but on the other hand it's also packed full of flavour, each sound texturised and four-dimensional, a snippet of life, Cord Labuhn as the lepidopterist of sound pinning each one in new shapes and patterns.

Guitar pings add to the percussive nature of this collage so far, reverbing into the gallons of negative space that brim with chill either side of the punctuation perforating the quietude. Aching moments from unidentifiable songs appear throughout, rapid sonic snapshots that resonate even after their brief flash on the bustling canvas. Things agitate towards the middle: the feeling of running or rolling downhill, picking up momentum, new samples sliding into the mix getting ever busier, packed with flavours, and then it falls back to the cooling patterns as before, subtly and simply dynamic; funny how something so clearly constructed, so abstract in execution, can also be so smooth and natural to our ears.

---

• 🔔 Like previous track 'Asap Daddy', this one is also taken from the Berlin producer's OUTTAKES project. You can download the track here.

---

---

📠
☟ Cord Labuhn Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ instagram

---

---

🌭 MICHAEL O — YOUR WAY

There is something wonderfully intoxicating about this track, something mesmerising—maybe it's in the general uplifting atmosphere of the afrobeat wholesomeness of it, or maybe it's something more physical, in the cyclical three-note melody played throughout that draws you in like a hypnotic spiral, in the instantaneous get-up-and-move feel of the rhythm, the warmth of the track. It soothes and caresses, enlivens and boosts, feels like a 1UP, feels quaint and whimsical but solidly ready for dancefloors and poolsides across the land. Like an uncut gemstone, this is the unassuming beauty the herald of bittersweet emotion that is 'Your Way' by Los Angeles-based Michael O.

There is a delicacy about the synthetic bass sounds, something fragile there, the reverb gently whispering off each note as the sprinkling pings of the repeated melody, feeling like tiny instruments, continue in their happy splendour. The dancehall drums with their offbeat and their busy clacking shuffle suggest carefree movement, but the gradual warm synth that flows in and out like waves on a beach, there is a far-off brave acceptance of something adverse, yet that plinking melody remains upbeat—this is like the true tides of emotion hidden behind a cheerful personality. The tranquillising lilt of the vocals is like a lullaby, even with the autotune hardening the tone. An essence of a person, of an emotion, is in this track, like alcohol in a cocktail, sweetness and sourness and the inebriating feel, an effortless mix of many ingredients, of many feelings, that slides effortlessly into your soul.

---

• 🔔 See Michael O's SoundCloud for more music.

---

---

📠
☟ Michael O Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ official site ⚘ twitter ⚘ tumblr ⚘ instagram

---

---

LUMI – BOUNDLESS

All I know about lumi is that they appear to be from DC (Washington DC is that right?) and they appear to be 15 (years old? minutes late? metres tall?). Other than that, nothing. But being unknown to YES/NO until about 20 minutes ago isn't a big deal; they've got traction, and for a good reason. Simply put, it's very nice sounds all round.

Case in point: 'boundless'. After a quiet and fizzy crackling build-up, rough backwards sounds rolling gently like waves of static across a somewhat bossa nova rhythm with handclaps and fingerclicks, the track goes into full swing. Jabs of synth and crashing drum between slabs of empty space that leave you reeling, skiffling hi-hats and soft arpeggios adding flavour and fervour to the pastel furore of the track. There's even a key change at the end. It feels boundless, the galloping rhythm and the power of the staccato synth chords fuelling this sense of open space and excitement.

---

• And whaddya know, this track is available for downloading free of charge.

---

---

☟ lumi's Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • Twitter

---

---