Despite being a staple in the INNIT scene, Magical Mistakes (the project of Erik Luebs) doesn’t live in urban Osaka, but rather a tiny forested village in Miyazaki Prefecture. When I talked to him a few months ago, he said how his remote home gave him ample time to record material, and that the natural world surrounding him was sneaking into his new material. His Special Friends EP is the product of those last few months in the Kyushu wild, a collection of originals and remixes shaped equally by electronics and the outside world. Luebs remixes fellow INNIT member And Vice Versa’s “OOO” and Lady Lazarus, the Magical Mistakes take on her sparse tune adding electronic creases and bird noises. Speaking of our feathered friends – they pop up quite a bit on Special Friends, like on the appropriately titled “Bossanova Groove,” where a bird cackles off in the distance as if it is right there in the recording area. “Supermoon Crashing” adds the sound of running water – a noise Luebs attempts to replicate electronically on EP highlight “Running Water” – alongside acoustic guitar, which also pops up plenty across Special Friends. The digital side of Magical Mistakes remains as solid as it was on last year’s lovely Dislocation, but the natural and acoustic touches on Special Friends lends this album a cozy, personal feel, computers and woods able to coexist just fine. Get the EP for whatever price you want, or listen to “Running Water” below
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