K2T lands on Drum Army for a collaborative EP with Metcalf, and we’re pleased to have a premiere from the release for you today! The Detached audio co-boss goes in solo on Look Up From the Ground, hitting chill 160 territory with crispy breaks and subtle melodic touches. Beautiful work – look out for the EP at Spotify and Beatport from Jul 30th.
Deliciously deep liquid goodness on today’s exclusive, as Goldfat welcome Kublai to their fold! Delicate piano and strings and a classy rolling break give life to an emotive composition…beautiful work. This one drops Nov 27th at all the usual outlets.
Summer liquid vibes from Mage on today’s premiere; as we’ve come to expect from one of Russia’s finest melodic producers this is all about the gentle piano, crisp rolling drums and shimmering pads. Beautiful tune; watch out for this coming June 22nd at all the usual stores.
Henry & Echo Motion join forces for the latest release on Glitch Audio, and they’re bringing the summer liquid jams! Headspace rolls out warm bass, intoxicatingly soft melodies and crispy breakbeat goodness; what more could you ask for? Look for this one coming June 5th!
The arrival of a new album from Kiwi liquid maestro Tokyo Prose last month took everyone by surprise; in a world where even EP releases are often stage managed and teased one track at a time over a period of weeks, to find out that a full album was in the offing and the first tracks were available instantly was a breath of fresh air. But when the artist and the material are as good as this the hype is unnecessary.
Tempting as it was to jump in with an instant reaction review, this one seemed worthy of a little contemplation…so with the dust now having settled and Wild Grace having been on rotation fairly regularly for a month, how does it stand up in the cannon of Tokyo Prose?
The first thing to note here is that Tokyo Prose hasn’t lost his gift for understatement; as the only artist besides LSB who really gets close to Calibre in the evocative roller stakes, the “less is more” aesthetic of previous work is present again here. Moving piano chords and crisp breakbeats reign supreme, and any temptation for over-editing tracks has been ignored in favour of smooth progressions and disarming simplicity of form.
Wild Grace lives up to it’s title too; the tracks conjure a sense of natural beauty through soft, mostly organic instrumentation and a deftness of touch. Highlights include Trick of the Light, Innate Motion and Impressions, all of which tread that fine line of mellow yet uplifting, beautiful but not cheesy, a kind of muted euphoria that is at once imbued with a sense of speed and also a sense of stillness.
If we have a complaint, it’s that the vocal work on this album doesn’t quite live up to the standard set by 2014’s Presence; whereas the Riya and Zoe Klinck collaborations of that LP are among the highlights, the instrumentals are definitely the tracks we’re more drawn to at Dojo HQ this time around. Overall though it’s still a stunning collection of music from an artist we’d love to hear from more often. Wild Grace is out now on vinyl and digital at all good stores.
Today’s exclusive comes from the Dojo boss Hex himself, with a new track for Detached Audio. This Snare brings together bright rhodes chords, soft pads, deep sub and natural drums for a jazzy liquid take on the somewhat forgotten drumfunk sound. Watch out for this one coming June 29th on the Delta 002 EP; pre-orders up now!
Smooth liquid vibes on today’s exclusive as we premiere Debrief’s Bigger Than You. Taken from the first release on new Bristol imprint Disperse Audio, Debrief delivers lush melodies, jazzy licks and crisp rolling breaks for a soft, summery vibe as we head into the warmer months. Nice! The Wide Eyes EP is out today exclusively at Juno.