The mixtape occupies a weird space in music today. The most popular “mixtape” of the year belongs to The 6‘s own Drake…except it isn’t a DatPiff download, but rather an iTunes release that will set you back like $13 (well, that’s what I paid = / ). Elsewhere, people like Bastille have released mixtapes. I’m…not really sure what it means anymore.
I’m less sure of why producer Taquwami would release a mixtape called Corrugation…but honestly, I can’t care much because it means more music from one of my favorite producers in Japan (and, hey!, maybe that’s part of it — why wait to release new music via an album when you can just drop it as a mixtape. If the people get geeked, all the better). Described as “sugarless pop” beneath the track, the six songs (more like hyperactive sketches — if his last EP was like a journey, these are six vignettes) bounce all over the place, reminding just how playful Taquwami can get, highlighted by one of his most pop-ready moments in “Corrugation 2.” Listen above.