Cupp Cave - Kid’s A Loner.

From Cupp Cave’s first EP Retina Waves released in April, 2012 under Ramp Recordings.

“A gratifying hiss and crackle accompanies you throughout the album, one of the many constants of Retina Waves. The aesthetic is tightly maintained, the forceful ambience creating a very human, organic sound, warm and approachable for the most part. The album concerns itself with slow-moving house for the most part, all beamed through a washed out, shoe-gazing lens.”

- Hyponik.

“ if you willingly go forth on each of the nine psychic journeys Boulanger presents on Retina Waves, you may find yourself inexplicably mesmerized by the wealth of peculiar nuances and enticed by how commanding each groove can be despite such understated arrangements.”

- xlr8r.

not fair to love you in chains 

not fair to love you in chains 

not fair to love you in chains 

not fair to love you in chains 

not fair to love you in chains 

not fair to love you in chains 

Sample来自Nelly Furtado的Showtime.

- by Jade.

Chui Wan(吹万), a band from Beijing, China who defined their genre as “New Psychedelic”. The name Chui Wan吹万 comes from a quote of this Chinese Philosopher Chuang Tzu, who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period and is known for Taoism.

吹万，这个来自北京的乐队，把自己的风格定义为“新迷幻”。

I remember learning one of his quote from 莊周夢蝶The butterfly dream in high school：

我记得在高中学到庄子的“庄周梦蝶”

”昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶，栩栩然蝴蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也。俄然覺，則蘧蘧然周也。不知周之夢為蝴蝶與，蝴蝶之夢為周與？周與蝴蝶則必有分矣。此之謂物化。“

“Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn’t know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi. Between Zhuangzi and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things. (2, tr. Burton Watson 1968:49)”

And 吹万ChuiWan comes from the quote “夫天籟者，吹萬不同，而使其自己也，咸其自取“，which simply means “blowing in the wind” in my opinion. The use of filling, squealing syncopated guitar plus Eastern reverb flow together into this wet Chinese psychedelia. Admittedly, the whole album especially Another Kind of Love totally reminds me of bands like Wild Nothing, Tame  Impala, etc. But where else would you find this cheesy but sultry ancient vibe, coming all the way, from 2,000 years ago.

“吹万”来自老子《齐物论》中的一句话“夫天籟者，吹萬不同，而使其自己也，咸其自取”，简单说意思就像Bob Dylan的那首”在风中飘”。齐整鼓点下下密麻紊乱的电子吉他音色加上东方流淌的混响音效，汇成了这制中国迷幻剂。不得不承认，“另一种爱”的第一秒开始听起来就像Wild Nothing, Tame  Impala等等。但你又能到哪儿找这般两千年前来的暧昧黏腻。

And for the Taoism part, don’t take it too serious.

- Written by Jade

Ryan Hemsworth makes video game music?

Yes :) 

This latest bit of Hemsworthian excellence comes by of compilation being put together by the record lebel Lefse in honor of video game producer Yasunori Mitsuda. Look for the four song compilation to drop on April 2.

Still your homie dance vibe plus 16-bit nostalgia tunes. Enjoy, and looking forward to the full released next month.

Ryan Hemsworth最近和厂牌Lefse合作的track，向电子游戏音效大师光田 康典致敬的Proto。这张专辑下月发行。

- Written by Jade

方圆

fangyuan

Plays:four – Lay Doe EP

The breathing flow of Plays:four’s looping samples craft a soothing sense of disembodiment as the mundane world rolls steadily through your windows on a grey, disoriented morning. Expansive and spacious, yet unmistakably intimate, this collection of four tracks lends itself generously to filling in with your own experiences. Opening with an inviting trickle of watery, tropically warm sounds punctuated with an irregular kicking groove, Cuit eventually gives way into a sweltering ambience, driven by laid back percussion. Keeping the EP alive from falling asleep in its haze, or rather guiding its somnambulist listener, are scattered snippets of unique clatters and clinks, or moments like the dreamy climax in Phyto, with a nostalgic Boards of Canada reminiscent strangeness.

The warmth of analog electronics, with traces of the trademark sound of artists from the Moodhut collective, paired with intricate production, turns even more obfuse melodies into pleasing hooks. These are sounds that find their own ways into places in your consciousness if you let them. 

btw they have the vinyl coming out next month.

PLays:four听起来像少女的呼吸，缓慢轻柔的节奏安抚你。 在灰蒙蒙的清晨听，循环的采样会把世俗从窗外分离。从呼吸开始有意识地循序渐进，愈发宽敞，无边无际。有没有在这张有四首音轨的EP中听到自己？第一首Cuit如泉水，温暖的细流从出发点开始，加了时时的断流与没规律的kick音色，却流到了河床之下，把回覆式的的叩打封闭在耳廓中。趁着梦一般粘Boards Of Canada的旧味道还没消散睡去吧。

这种闷暖的合成器音色似乎是大部分MoodHut下音乐人的共同点，原本就不清晰的旋律加上采样和鼓点错综复杂。让声音在你的思维里自己寻路吧。

-Written by Christian Voveris. Translated by Jade.

Interview coming soon..