Broken Just Right: Bicco Beat

A challenge I’ve personally felt as of late is trying to find a balance between new music — you know, the daily “what new thing is new artist doing now, that is new” — and those pockets of sound that exist outside of any narrative, but are thrilling even without a hook. Nagoya’s Bicco Beat falls squarely into the latter category. A long-running project, but one very much under the radar, Bicco Beat put out a full-length album in 2006, while a few bits of live footage also exist online. Other than that…not much! But he recently shared a new song called “Bali,” a squiggly electronic number highlighting his broken-beat approach to constructing sneaky jams. “Bali” swelters, the disconnect between the tropical beat, bass and synthesizers making for a woozy number. Listen above.

Bicco Beat has a lot of great numbers on his SoundCloud, running from funky little “interludes” to delicate keyboard reflections (“Goodbye Cassini”). He also covers anime songs! and gets pretty far out there. Check out the hoppy breeze of “Major 7th Addicts’ below.