ISSUE #26
Southern Dub
by Clap! Clap!
Italian electronic producer, Clap! Clap! has released a new single this week via Black Acre. Southern Dub marks his first single since 2018's Ode to Pleiades EP and 2017's A Thousand Skies LP.
I first heard about Clap! Clap! while listening to Populous' 2014 Night Safari LP, on which he was featured on two tracks. I had embarrassingly forgotten about him until my buddy Nick reintroduced me to his 2014 album Tayi Bebba. I was drawn to his incredibly eclectic use of worldly instrumentation, vocal samples, and percussion entwined in often heavy electronic foundation.
Check out the official video for Kuj Yato below!
Southern Dub encompasses this methodology. Featuring Italian percussionist Domenico Candellori, this single is made up of chanting vocal samples, sirens, and the strumming of several different string instruments. All of which are backed up by a quaking dub beat that heavily pulsates and cuts to your core.
We're hoping that this release signifies an upcoming album in the future, but until then, Clap! Clap! has like 30K listeners per month on Spotify, so I'm urging you to check him out and spread the gospel. You won't be sorry.
In this time of quarantine and isolation, now more than ever artists need your support. Consider picking up some of Clap! Clap!'s music here!
Stay safe, everyone.
Armando
Oasis Nocturno
by TOKiMONSTA
Jennifer Lee’s 10th studio release arrived this week amongst worldwide chaos and delivered a desperately needed injection of energy, beauty and introspection.
Oasis Nocturno features 8 guest artists but still feels very much TOKi at heart - serene, layered melodies give hints of eastern places, an exoticism dancing on the edge of your ears that you can’t quite place. Imaginative percussion and emotive melodic styling make the LP a diverse and engaging listen through and through.
Jennifer Lee. Image Courtesy of This Song Is Sick.
From the jazzy shuffle and soulful vocals on Get Me Some featuring Drew Love and Dumbfounded to the snappy, pointed delivery of Bibi Bourelly on One Day, this album is chameleonic in its mood while remaining tethered to a few central arteries - percussion is wildly important, if sometimes minimal; features are allowed to color each production with their own unique delivery, TOKi having chosen them with care; each track will make you move, whether you’re grooving sweaty or swaying with eyes closed.
The yearning, twisting hook on Fried for the Night, delivered by EARTHGANG, is the sonic equivalent of hanging out the passenger window of a car drifting by at reckless speeds. Phases is sad and beautiful but doesn’t release your hips from swaying either, a great example of TOKiMONSTA’s masterfully toeing of the line between turnt and touching. Come and Go gives major Pyramid Song vibes with its melancholic piano progression and I’m definitely keeping my ears out for more work from vocalist VanJess who absolutely slays this track.
There’s something tropical about this LP - the timbre of the synths resembles wood xylophones, and there are teases of latin groove throughout - but it distinctly feels like night time as well. A warm dusk on the beach one moment, pooling moonlight on an alpine summit above the clouds the next. That same mild abandon that arrives with the darkness is woven throughout the fabric of this aptly named album, from the tracks that tug you onto the dance floor to those that beckon you outdoors. This music feels liberated from the prying eyes of the day, and I find myself happily lost within it in the space of a breath.
TOKiMONSTA is an incredible live performer. Image coutesy of DJ City News.
Some of my favorite instrumental moments include the drunken spirit-dance of Renter’s Anthem, the koto-like stabs throughout House of Dal or the questing, mythical soundscape of the very aptly-named To Be Remote, but the closing track For My Eternal, Oh Dream My Treasure holds a special place for me. It features meditative echoes overlaying each other like ripples in a moonlit pond, chimes and woodblocks mingling freely in a warm mountain breeze high above all earthly concern.
Simply put, this album is what I needed to listen to today. Thank you Jennifer. While The Oasis Nocturno Experience tour has been postponed, keep your eyes open for new dates - this isn’t something you’ll want to miss.
