BROOKLYN83 – STORM IN A TEACUP + PRINCE OF TENNIS REMIX

You know sometimes you just gotta do something? Just gotta do it. Like, oh a piece of cheesecake just appeared in front of me, gotta eat it. Or, wow there's a £10 note on the floor, gotta pick it up. And in this instance, I just got sent this music and listened to it, gotta write about it! That's how it works. But FYI you shouldn't be as instantly self-gratifying like this when it comes to immoral stuff – please stay moral and loving and nice towards each other.

Anyway, this music appeared all the way from Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. It's just one song, one song by the mysterious Brooklyn83 (just this one song is on their SoundCloud, and they have like no followers, no links either), with a remix of that song by fellow Prague duo Prince of Tennis, their name obvs inspired by manga/anime The Prince of Tennis. The song is called 'Storm In A Teacup' after the fun idiom that basically means making a big deal over nothing (synonymous with tempest in a teapot, tempest in a teacup, storm in a cream bowl, tempest in a glass of water, storm in a wash-hand basin and storm in a glass of water, according to Wikipedia).

And it's that phrase precisely which refrains throughout the song, heavily vocodered with cybernetic aesthetics – a light sprinkling of vocals to season the track, tangled and bristling with shuffling shaking beats that sway between thudding kick and cracking snare in a perfect rendition of UK garage sensibilities, yet budding with the rhythmic addiction of footwork. Bass stays low and subby but there are moments where it's thrown out like a lasso to the higher ends of the spectrum and pulled back with kinetic whiplash effect. Weird and lush, it's happily surprising and shivery with sonic nuances that you can't help but eat up.

Prince of Tennis's remix is a much noisier affair, a sort of indie-dance-pop with steely and robust bass guitar driving the song in a fragmentary fashion; brash explosive electro drums make up the semi-brutal dancefloor-friendly beat; the refrain "Storm… in a teacup, in a teacup" is treated well alongside smart pulses of synthpop chord and heart-popping copter-like chops. Two surprises in one. Two very different songs. Both unique and affecting enough to get excited about. Check out their other stuff.

• It's available for a free download if you like it CLICK RIGHT HERE or go to Prince of Tennis's SoundCloud (link below innit)

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Listen to Brooklyn83 on SoundCloud

Listen to Prince of Tennis on SoundCloud
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Watch Prince of Tennis on YouTube

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NEON BUNNY (야광토끼) – IT'S YOU (너여야) [VIDEO]

I have been spending most of today looking out of the window at the same view I pretty much always look at. It's greenish, pretty, flowery, but it's not inspiring me. And neither was anything I had heard up until now. Then I remembered that I had to check out this new Neon Bunny track. And I was cured! Cured of my malaise. Cured I say. Thanks to K-pop. Or K-indie.

Where are we now? Anyway, this is the THIRD Neon Bunny (real name Lim Yoojin) track I've heard and the third I've featured here. I discovered her at some point last year (with her song 'Oh My Prince') when I was actively exploring the Seoul music scene – and what a happy discovery! Since then, she's worked with fellow Korean producer Demicat on the song 'Singing Bird' from his Out Loud EP and, well, not much else that I know of. Until now! This song has seemingly appeared out of the blue as a purchasable single and it's called "너여야" (neoyeoya) or 'It's You'.

Like her past songs, this one follows in their footsteps with electro aplomb, fuzzy distorted saw-wave bass blasting in waves, losing its distortion outside of the catchy chorus, where Neon Bunny's gentle voice sings the hook, and where the beat bustles with doubled-up hi-hats in all its footwork flavour, snapping back and forth between cracking clap-snare combination and throttling kicks. Swept with waves of mystified chords and glistening delicate melodies, this is a song of contrasts: the sweet and softly sung vocals with their near-nostalgic pop sensibilities; the hard and driving beat drenched with harsh distorted synth. But it works wonderfully.

Hopefully, and I don't know if it's the case or not, this is taken from an upcoming album. It'd be nice to hear a full-length collection of songs from Neon Bunny. I mean, even an EP would do. But for now, the summery 'It's You' and its addictive, perfectly pop sound is just fine!

• And you can buy it for $1 (or more) over at Neon Bunny's Bandcamp page.

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PUPILATION – NATURE

How about something from Spain right now? Is that gonna float your boat? Well in some ways it doesn't really matter where anything is from, but in others it matters a great deal. Let's just split the bill and say that it depends – it depends entirely on the situation I suppose, and your interest. Me, for example, I'm interested in where stuff comes from. Sorry but I am.

Anyway, in this instance here is something not from "Spain" as it were but from Euskal Herria – Basque Country, and it arrives in the form of a track called 'Nature' by Bilbao-based beatmaker Pupilation – or PVPILΔTION. For the sake of ease, I'm going to say Pupilation from now on. Sorry about that.

True to its name, 'Nature' features sounds of birds singing, chirping noises that ease you into the glittering glitz of wide chiming melodies that float over the top of this track for its entire duration, like a silvery mist. Bass grooves with slow and simple funk pattern, filling the deep void beneath the the shuffling raw beat that shakes its way forward with harsh hi-hats and dull-thud organic kicks and resounding snare. The middle of the track marks a return to the sound of birds; other sounds join in, glassy shearing synth sound, stepping patterns of harpsichord-like twinkling.

Little things – like the introducing the beat with just bare hi-hats, like muting all sounds except the drums for less than a second just before the middle break, like the beat's staggering return to life for the final part, like the chunks of leftover bass chopped at the end – make this track what it is: very cool. It's these simple things, simple acts of not even decoration, but of minimal subtraction, dynamic placement, that keep things interesting in this track, which with its sounds and fresh beat is very, very pretty anyway.

This guy makes music under not only Pupilation, but also Ber SO and Zitrick – maybe this current moniker is the ultimate one, the name of choice. In any case, he seems to upload a tune here and there pretty regularly, so if you're into this just check his SoundCloud every now and again.

• There is also an album, free to download, called Land of Lies.

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SPAZZKID – AT FAULT (FEAT. THERE IS A FOX) [FREE DOWNLOAD]

I love Spazzkid. How can you not? I mean, even as a person (called Mark Redito) he's really nice, so the fact that he makes really lovely music is a bountiful bonus if ever there was one. If you don't know this guy then, um, get to know: the best way is to trawl his Bandcamp page where you'll find everything from Early Demos (2004–2006), to the wholly immersive experience that was his album release of last year, Desire (願う). His lovingly crafted sounds ring with electropop, with chillwave, with J-inspired melodies, with footwork flavours and above all, with touching positivity.

I managed to miss the uploading of his latest track 'At Fault', however, but thanks to Oliver (s/o The 405) I heard it today and I knew instantly that I had to write about it and share it. This track is unique in that it features the cooperation and collaboration of fellow SoCal resident, There Is A Fox. Real name Hiro Makino, I wrote about him and his dreamily endearing brand of indie-folk-pop last Autumn, and was therefore pleased to find his sound and style permeating this song alongside Spazzkid. Beginning life as something that sampled & re-arranged a There Is A Fox original, 'Bad Day', it grew until these two artists were working alongside each other on the track.

Tagged "folktronic" I think this just about sums it up. Folk-pop guitar appears out of the void in vibrantly choppy succession with xylophonic sounds raining down in the slow sway of the song; by the end everything is jumbling together in a colourful mash of sound, from right down low with the booming bass and muffled kicks to the high registers of rattling percussion and looping guitar riffs. Vocals sing out innocently with lashings of dream-laden reverb, "It's not my fault…", calm in the zinging euphoria of the track. It is expansive, opening up as it goes along, evolving all the way, filled with wonderfully living-and-breathing organic samples and sounds residing harmoniously next to wholly electronic fabrications. At every moment it is endearing; did you hear the little cough/clearing of the throat at the start? Just another magic touch.

So there it was. Hoo-hah! It's lovely. I can't help but love it. I'm a fan. I hope you're a fan too. Fyi this song was supposed to feature on Spazzkid's upcoming EP (which I'm v excited for), but it grew and grew and, as he describes, "ended up wanting a life of its own. It stands for itself, pure and beautiful." Well well well indeed it does.

• Go and download 'At Fault' for absolutely nothing.
• Enjoy this little interview that Spazzkid was kind enough to agree to.

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

Like There Is A Fox on Facebook
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Hear more oto sound (another alias of Hiro) on Myspace
Check There Is A Fox on Tumblr

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LANKS – RISES AND FALLS

I've seen a lot of this recently. A lot of what? A lot of SoundCloud pages that are hardly filled, or which have just the one track uploaded, and few followers, but which already shows such a definitive direction, such a polished sound. Maybe it's a kind of perfectionism, in that only a few songs will ever be "perfect" enough for the purposes of sharing with a general public; maybe it's that inspiration doesn't visit often enough; or perhaps it's all just an intricate PR strategy, and everything is ready already— I don't know! I have no idea! But what I do know is that I've seen a lot of them recently.

What does that mean? It could mean that more and more people are paddling their own canoes, making their own music and sharing it with the world – perhaps inspired by others who have done the same (i.e. getting internet famous) – and this is the meaning that I would like to believe, at least for now. People just wanna make music. And let them!

With this said, please allow me to introduce all the way from Melbourne, Australia, LANKS *tiny fanfare*. Who? Well, LANKS is the electronic project, the moniker, of Will Cuming, the creator of the only song currently uploaded to SC, 'Rises and Falls'. Having a little nose around on his Facebook page revealed that this is taken from an upcoming EP – and this, if this one song is anything to go by, is going to very good.

The track is a unique in that you don't often hear stuff in 6/8 timing which this at least appears to be. A slightly disorienting beat juggles toms and slapping kick, scratching hi-hat and dusty electronic snare, leading you effectively into a whirling dreamworld. This is the perfect foundation for the song itself, for the lyrics, which describe a tragic story (I won't ruin it, just listen) in balladesque form. A voiceless chorus underpins the spoken-word/singing's intimate style, guitar arpeggios join in halfway, synth chords gradually rise up out of the deep. The timing changes at around 1:50, with sub-bass kicks booming a 4/4 pattern, a heartbeat for the intense tragedy of this moment; accompanied by female vocals, LANKS and militaristic snares and cymbals builds the track to a crashing crescendo. Fin.

Really interesting stuff, indie-sound (essentially) with a touch of electropop and folk, reminiscent of Alt-J dare I say, but more substantial both in sound and wording. When is the EP out? Dunno.

• But you can download this song for free from LANKS's Bandcamp.
• Also there's a nicely drawn video for 'Rises and Falls' that you can watch now too

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Like LANKS on Facebook
Listen to LANKS on SoundCloud
Hear more LANKS on Bandcamp
Visit LANKS official site
Follow LANKS on Twitter

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