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New Gnyonpix: Juke Chips EP

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Cleverness can wilt to novelty quickly, and it isn’t easy to avoid the plunge to meme hell. Japanese juke producer Gnyonpix’s Juke Chips presents an idea that could go wrong if done poorly — what if juke, but 8-bit? Which, to be clear, isn’t totally radical. Those sounds pop up in footwork-ready tracks all the time, while artists such as Quarta330 and Heavee have leaned on them quite a bit. But Juke Chips takes it to the extreme, the entire sonic palette being Game Boy generated. Risky, yeah, but Gnyonpix has been central to Japan’s juke scene for some time now, and they are able to make the sounds skitter and bump just right, resulting in a fun set capturing the spirit of the style just right. Get it here, or listen below.

New Seiho: “Tear Off The Dress”

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Seiho has moved in so many different directions over the last few years. He’s hit on abstract jazz and, most recently, rumbling electronic music…and that’s not counting his various pop-related productions.”Tear Off The Dress” finds a midway point between most of those styles. The horn toots meld just right with the warped vocal samples dripping all over the place, and pretty quickly Seiho ratchets up the intensity in a way that brings to mind “Purple Smoke.” Yet no one side dominates “Tear Off The Dress,” resulting in a nice mix between sides of Seiho. Listen at your preferred streaming service.

New Emamouse: PSBB2

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As expected, keeping track of Emamouse in 2018 can be a tricky proposition. She’s released at least two albums since the hyper-charming Tiny Orange Slicker For Birds, and it’s completely possible something else is floating out there on some obscure Danish label. Tiny Mix Tapes did a great job looking at one release (which you should definitely check out), so let’s devote time to the playful PSBB2. As the number implies, it’s a follow-up to this 2016 whirlwind, and it zig-zags between squeaky electronic numbers (the rippling rush of “Biolon,” the manic syllable-chopping of “Yodominati”) to numbers featuring her singing (just check the giddy “Kenkura,” which positions Emamouse as kinda a 21st century internet-damaged version of Guernica). Get it here, or listen below.

New DJ Fulltono: “Tribal Dancer”

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DJ Fulltono keeps it simple on his latest release, which comes via Italian label Beat Machine Records. And dude has earned the right to deliver a pretty straightforward slice of footwork wonder — he’s definitely one of the reason’s the country’s footwork scene has mutated into the wonderful thing it is today. “Tribal Dancer” busts out a skittery beat and lets it work its magic, with a vocal sample sneaking in to give a little texture and human warmth to all that percussion. This release gets rounded out by a remix courtesy of DJ Earl, who pushes it to a more blinded-by-the-lights place (which is to say…he obscures the vocal sample, and let’s the music go in different places). Get it here, or listen below.

Open For Business: Girls Tape Store’s To The Dizzling You EP

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Girls Tape Store formed in 2001, and released albums in the next two years of brittle and bubbly electronic music. And then — radio silence. Then in summer of 2017, the project started up again. To The Dizzling You is the latest release to emerge from this new start, and finds an artist interested in tinkering with yesterday while also moving forward. Two songs here are edits of numbers that came out during Girls Tape Store’s initial run — “Distance” goes from a dreamy stomper to something more digital here, while their best song “Balloon” actually becomes a touch hazier and at times loopy in 2018 form. I always like artists who go back and play around with songs they’ve already put out, even the ones that stand out in their catalogs, and Girls Tape Store’s curiosity to poke at these now results in great music…while also shining a light on what came before. Plus, there’s the title track, a fuzzy bit of dream-hop falling somewhere between squiggly Cornelius and more recent bedroom pop. Get it here, or listen below.