🐣 PETTICOAT — POMPOUS

You know in Super Smash Bros. how Kirby's Down Special Move turns him into some heavy object, like a spiked ball, 100-ton weight, a stone, a Thwomp, or a block of trash? Well this track is sort of like that. (If we assume that Kirby in his regular form is soft, then it works). 'Pompous' by the LA-based newcomer Petticoat is squishy, taffy-esque, pastel-coloured and popping with pizzazz, but then there is this constant, stony pugilism in the beat and the rolling modulated synth blasts that gives it a hard but sugary coating.

Kicks thump with a balance between gloopy and thudding, cementing the rhythm of the track and sending it up like karst landforms for a dramatic soundscape that juts out and jostles with jungle greenery; dreamy gleaming chimes chase each other in spears of glistening metallic dust—another similarity to the sparkly world of Kirby. And now piano chords clonk and clank polyrhythmic in the gorgeous goo of 'Pompous', pitched vocals squall heavenly in triumph at the terraforming foundation of it all. Durable, colourful, serious, soft, fantastical: get lost for a moment in the lovely world that Petticoat's created with his music.

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• 🔔 This is literally Petticoat's first original track so keep your ears peeled to his SoundCloud and follow him and stuff if you want to hear more.

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📠
☟ Petticoat Internet Presence ☟
facebook ⚘ soundcloud ⚘ twitter ⚘ instagram

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PA'S LAM SYSTEM – LIKE A LADY

To make something like this – already so cosmically engaging and bustling with energy – to sound as interesting and exciting as it does for as long as it is must take some skill, some talent, but also hard work, patience, and, of course, good ears. To keep it so full of life all the way through, with its dramatic acrobatics, to maintain unending zest and intrigue, this takes love – not necessarily for the finished product, because a day is not there for the sunset alone, but for the process of creation itself: for the movement, order and flow of action.

Wow um ok, so that's what Japanese trio Pa's Lam System kind of does here in their latest track called 'Like A Lady', synonymous with the words sung by its ornamental sped-up female vocal sample. It's a song that stays fresh all the way through. Nothing is overused: a water droplet plinks only, "Hey!" samples are used with consideration, an arpeggio that weaves dreamily in and out of the forefront, a vinylesque drum and bass sample rattles only in one place… And that's not to mention the composition itself, the expansive rainbow chords and their wild somersaults and mad flips, the contented magical melody in the song's calm finale, the virtuosic power of the drums, the flighty adventuresome synth solo, the bass like controlled explosions of pure silk gloss underpinning all of the above greatness. It really takes your mind for a ride.

Also it might just be me, but it's mastered low enough to be able to turn the volume right up… it's kind of satisfying that I go to turn the volume up on this one and it's already FULL PELT ✔

• This fantastic slice of inverted-Jersey-Club footwork from these Maltine playmates stands next to a very different but also quite amazing beast called 'Twin' by Hyper Juice on the 2-track Hypa'slam EP, a collaboration between the two artists available nowhere except on your computer for streaming.

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☟ Pa's Lam System Social Media Presence ☟
SoundCloud • Twitter

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TOYS HEY BOY [VIDEO]

It's been a while since I wrote about Paris duo TOYS – the last time, in fact, was when they were kind enough to agree to an interview, back in June. Around the same time, TOYS shared a video for their new-at-the-time track, 'We Are' – an epic track with an equally epic, and strange, video that followed a strange guy who was seemingly able to bring people back from the dead. Before that, way before that, their song 'Noise' entered my ears and never left: it's still one of my favourites (and I urge you to check it out, too).

Just a little bit over a week ago, the duo were at it again – this time far from their native Paris. Filmed in New York City, their new video – for a song called 'Hey Boy' – showcases various yet connected subcultural pursuits of the city, namely: street art, skateboarding, basketball and breakdancing. All in glorious black and white, filmed up-close-and-personal to its participants, we have director Louis de Caunes to thank for this visual treat. For the music, however, we of course must look to TOYS themselves.

Beginning as a dreamlike trickle of haunting sounds, including a hugely glossy column of sub-bass surging its way through everything, the song soon gets an understated R&B-flavoured beat to drive it forward, complete with sandlike hi-hats and popping-gunshot snares. Vocal samples, from where I dunno, are rhythmically dropped into the song with increasing frequency as wide synth chords build up and up, joined by shots of sharpened electro buzz-bleeps. Everything becomes increasingly distorted by these all-engulfing synths, sounding like a white noise organ with a subverted atmosphere of urban consecration. With its laid-back yet intense atmosphere, 'Hey Boy' provides the perfect soundtrack to the city-based pastimes you see in its video, mirroring the frustrations and determination you can see on the faces of the video's protagonists. I want to hear and see more from these guys.

NB. The video, as nice as it is, has already racked up over 30,000 views in a week AND has been featured on Vimeo as one of their staff picks. Nice going!

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Like TOYS on Facebook
Listen to TOYS on SoundCloud
Visit TOYS official site
Follow TOYS on Twitter
Watch TOYS on YouTube

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LAZY INTERVIEW #21: DCUP

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← #20: SUPERFOOD #22: VULKANO →

So just a little bit over a week ago I wrote about a music producer from Australia called DCUP – in particular his latest song 'Magic'; it is a sizzler of a track, filled with the atmosphere of a hundred prospective summers and Latin heat in all its samba-slash-disco glory.

It's not the first I'd heard of him though: a few months ago he put out a song called 'Don't Be Shy', something that tickles your nostalgia bone with its warm retro vibes. Released in the form of the Don't Be Shy EP – containing, amongst others, ace remixes by Wave Racer and Boys Get Hurt, it was a fab introduction to the peripheral tastes and music of DCUP.

Little did I know, and maybe you didn't either, but it was DCUP, along with fellow Australian band Yolanda Be Cool, behind 2010 hit 'We No Speak Americano'. Being a portion of the brains behind such an intensely catchy song so widely popular with people of pretty much all ages and cultures, Mr DCUP intrigued me so I sent over the Lazy Interview questions – he was kind enough to indulge me, and thereby you too, with some answers.

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Who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?
I'm Jim. I'm from Ohio. I'm a traffic engineer.
How weird would that be?

No really, I'm Duncan MacLennan aka Dcup. Born in Sydney, Australia and I'm a music producer, DJ, and tantric love-maker.

Why did you decide to start creating music?
Curiosity. I grew up with a Casio keyboard in my room. I think it was my brother's but I borrowed it one day and kept it. How different things could have been ;)

As a mid-teen, I listened to electronic music and wondered why I couldn't do that on my Casio. Then a friend mentioned a computer program called "fruity loops" and the rest is history.

How would you describe your sound? What makes you and your style stand out?
A few key things. I often have very strong musical elements in my tracks. I often have solid bass and rhythm. And I love to experiment and create my own sounds, so that gives me a unique aesthetic also.

Is there a perfect time and place for listening to your music?
I would say no. It's all good. Probably just don't listen to it before bed.

What inspires you most when writing a song?
Melody. That "hook" that everyone talks about. I'm obsessed with that piece of a song that you sing in the shower, or in your head. In writing, I'm always looking for that – then my love of huge bass and beat embellishes that.

What is your most memorable musical experience?
Probably the moment I made the little sax line on sampler for 'We No Speak Americano'. Simply because I've told the story so often.

What are your favourite three songs at the moment?
Fark, this changes every day.
It may surprise you, but I love techno and more electronic styles.

Top 3 this minute are:

• TCTS - 'Do It Alright'

• Format: B - 'Magic Button'

• Claude Von Stroke - 'Lay It Down'

Who do you most admire in the music world?
Calvin Harris

In your opinion, what is the future of music?
Songs. Still just plain old songs.

What's the future of your music - what do you hope to do next?
As you may have guessed from my top 3, a very electronic project (still with songs).

What, aside from music, is most important to you?
People. The family and friends I have, the girl I love, the strangers on the street. It would all be worthless without them.

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They say curiosity killed the cat, but if you are a human, curiosity almost always seems to be a good thing – especially in conjunction with creativity and all its trappings. It's crazy really, to think that something as seemingly small as growing up with a Casio keyboard in your bedroom would lead to you becoming a brilliant producer of music that people the world over are able to enjoy. Like DCUP said: how different things could've been indeed.

But as it stands, things aren't different and this guy has been able to share his love of making music, and in particular of spreading the joy of catchy melodies, with anyone who wants to listen. Being obsessed with the "piece of a song that you sing in the shower, or in your head" – as DCUP says he is (and as you can kind of tell from his Top 3 songs of the moment) – should mean that everything DCUP touches, in a musical sense please, springs to life with a memorable sheen that sits, or rather dances, in your head for a long time after that first listen. It's something that keeps you coming back to the same song and dosing yourself with the same pleasure that engulfed you when you first heard said song.

As such, I'll be looking forward to DCUP's latest project. The breed of music that he creates is currently one of my favourite sounds, warm and dripping with not euphoria, but rather definitive satisfaction of living and being alive in the "now" – and we all need that affirmation sometimes. But lastly, whatever way you approach it, or however you'd like it remembered or immortalised, a song is a song and that is why they're so strong, so set yet free, so familiar to us all.

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← #20: SUPERFOOD #22: VULKANO →

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Like DCUP on Facebook
Listen to DCUP on SoundCloud
Visit DCUP official site
Follow DCUP on Twitter
Watch DCUP on YouTube

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