HERS – TRANSITION

Somehow I'd never heard of this guy before — I mean, I say "somehow", but the reasons are obvious. It's just happened as it happened, as everything in this world happens. There is no vague, ambiguous "somehow" about anything, really, if you think about it. Do you get me?

But the main point: hers is new for me. Talking about hers is a syntactical nightmare – there's hers music, hers sound. It looks weird. But I like that it's an odd name. At least it's, like, different. Anyway. Anyway anyway anyway. His (his first name is Chris) track 'transition' is what we're here for. It's a concoction of different flavours, styles even, making a cocktail out of ambient, VGM sounds, trap heft, footwork fizz… Uniquely – at least from my standpoint anyway – the track's bpm changes as the vibe changes.

Beginning with a gentleish 130, it's a dreamscaping slow jam evoking semi-tropical scenes with glockenspiel clusters and snippets of synth chords, booping sounds like a harp speeding up to the next change at 154, where we're ushered into something dank and stark and anxious for just a moment, until we finish on a propulsive 124bpm: a house-flavoured beat contains tasty judders of slap bass and twinkle-glamourous high-pitched glitterings of high-register synth.

It's a small journey: from home turf, to somewhere anxiety-inducing just for a moment, and ending up somewhere kinetic yet comfortable; all of it glistens with an endearing sun-soaked, splashed-pool-water-on-warm-skin, feel-good, everything's-gonna-be-fine-ness.

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• Since the track got 10k listens recently, hers has put the stems up for remixing purposes. Wanna remix it? Do it! Why not?! All remixes will be stuck in a playlist on hers' (his) SoundCloud.
• And of course you can also download it for free.

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☟ Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • Twitter

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FORTUNE HOWL PAWS (BO EN REMIX)

Yo. Wow. This is good. Let's rush straight in. Rush we go. So, this is another one of the pretty damn awesome re-workings of the songs from Fortune Howl's Earthbound, collectively called Earthbound [Remixed]. I wrote about one of them - Bwoy De Bhajan's remix of 'Interzone Export' - the other week. And, listening through it now, there is so much talent going into these remixes that it's impossible for them to be bad. Or perhaps talent on its own isn't sufficient; each of these remixers has a definitive voice and style, making each one more than a remix - something closer to an original track.

There's XXYYXX's synth-heavy trap-leaning version of 'Echo The Sun', for instance, and also the lush, ghostly remix of 'A Terrible Machine' by Mister Lies. Likewise, London producer bo en sets off some seriously sweet fireworks for us in his remix of 'Paws'. Fortune Howl's original is a luscious, ballad-like number that swoons with vocal samples, warm synth waves and slow-dance drums. bo en's remix is very different.

Taking cues from a synth-heavy revival of Japan-exclusive genre Shibuya-kei (a mix of jazzy lounge sounds with traces of synthpop and lashings of pop energy), bo en - real name Calum Bowen - turns 'Paws' on its head and makes it his own. Beginning with a deliciously funky, 80s-themed intro, complete with some scene-setting slap bass, at once we're bowled into the nu-Shibuya-kei that bo en does best. Puffs of fidgety synth chords overlook a fast house kick as the original vocals float over in washes of reverb. At 0:55 he samples Yoshi's down+B move from Super Smash Bros. before launching into a candy-coloured world of modulating synths, squeaky bed sounds, claps, down-south hip hop snares and remnants of samples.

The rest of the song reads beautifully, a floating mist of the song's original vocals, a saxophone solo, wah-wah chords, samples of "Hey — hey!" all cradled by a rainy-night synth bassline and 80s drum machine beats. A classy yet magical finish, like a rendezvous with a high-class escort who turns out to be searching for someone to help her solve an existential, metaphysical mystery - you becoming the reluctant detective. It moves flawlessly between sugary sweet nu-Shibuya-kei and retro-infused sounds - a teapot brewing leaves of tea-breaks past - combining many different elements that on paper would seem barmy. Hip hop drums? A little known Japanese genre? Slap bass? 80s aesthetic? Videogame samples? Yep, all of that. But the way that Mr bo en melds these sounds into a cohesive, dynamic showstopper of a track that's as jaw-droppingly impressive as it is unabashedly enjoyable.

You should definitely check out Earthbound [Remixed] for your fix of totally fresh sounds. And a FREE DOWNLOAD. (The fact that the album and its original are named after one of my favourite ever games has no bearing on the matter).

Also, check out bo en's lovely debut album Pale Machine out on supernice Japanese netlabel Maltine Records - and download the whole thing for free.

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PARKGOLF KISS ME

I've been wanting to write about PARKGOLF for a rather long time but for some reason I just never got round to it. I'd heard a few songs before the release of tofubeats' Lost Decade Remixes album (remixes of songs from his album Lost Decade) but it was PARKGOLF's remix of tofubeats' 'I Don't Care' that really won me over. But still, I didn't get around to writing about him. So you should go and listen to that song. Anyway, here I am now.

For those who don't know, PARKGOLF is a beatmaker/producer from Sapporo, Japan. His music is often punchy, energetic and filled with lovely synth, mostly with a leaning towards the quirkier side of what could be considered pop music. Sounds good right? Well it sounds even better when you actually hear it in your literal ears, I can tell you that. His latest offering, 'Kiss Me', is a rollercoaster ride of theatrical sounds, making for a sound that sounds almost like a song from a futuristic musical - West Side Story for the neon club generation. Maybe.

There's a lot going on here. The intro is so good it might as well be like some kind of electronic foreplay. The main synth melody is outrageous, high-register pitch-bent chords that have something of a Japanese scale to them - a gloriously unexpected melody; I love the audaciously long duration of some of the notes. All of this is intermingled with variously altered vocal samples (one of them chopped so well it sounds like someone waggling their tongue around) and, during the midsection, some funky slap bass and some house-style piano chords. Spacey synth and bulging bass counterparts make their presence known alongside a hefty beat whose snares and claps scream laid-back-down-south-hip-hop, accompanied by rollicking hi-hats. At 2:35 the chords are wonderfully stop-start, sharing space with playful piano sweeps and kick explosions - this part's almost like a bit of prog rock.

And that was the wonderful pop of PARKGOLF. There's a bit of house in there; funk, hip hop (perhaps more aligned with trap), as well as those notes that seem like a piece of traditional Japanese music in the hands of a genius robot. There's a great deal of punch here, too, almost like a statement to the world, a song that stops you in your tracks; the soundtrack to the sometimes risky request of "kiss me" indeed.

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TOKYOLITE YES! DANCE!

The exuberant sounds of young Indonesian trio Tokyolite came to me via email from the band themselves, which was jolly nice of them indeed.

The song that struck me most was 'Yes! Dance!' - mainly for it's unstoppable groove. Yes I like a nice groove, and when there are funk guitars and slap bass involved, it's even better. It's certainly a toe-tapper.

There are a lot of different styles thrown into the mix for this one, something that is sometimes a bit risky - mainly if you don't do it right. If you don't do it right, it can sound messy and nigh-on horrendous. Thankfully, Tokyolite have an good ear for sound and their subsequent mix comes out like a well-made cake: tasty.

So here's 'Yes! Dance!'

There's a kinda latin chord structure laying at the bass of everything here, coupled with the speedy drums it does give it a very 'Spanish' feel - the break down beginning "We will carry on..." brings a moody edge to the song, too. But there are also funk guitars in the chorus, coupled with a funky 80s slap bass, which is almsot a little Seinfeld - but then again, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. I love Seinfeld.

There are even some happy-happy horns in the chorus, too, framing the catchy hook of it with an original, mixed-up-without-being-messy sound. The vocals, whilst perhaps not as in-keeping as they could be with the sound of the song (a little husky maybe; they could, for instance, be a little more lo-fi in their sound - a little more echo, a little less focus), nevertheless do have a nice melody about them that gives a pop feel to the song.

It comes from Tokyolite's latest Hello EP. These guys are yet another artist I have written about lately who are seeing the benefits of netlabels and free downloads - a 'creative commons' approach to spreading their music.

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