Taquwami knows how to operate – if you follow the guy on SoundCloud or Twitter you start noticing how he interacts with other musicians, ones who don’t live in Japan. He’s very active, always communicating with like-minded artists, which probably explains how he’s hooked up with Bad Panda Records and those “Dopewave Is Real” folks. It’s shrewd, and in an online world where connections and frequency tend to trump all almost necessary.
So here’s his latest collaborative effort, with an artist out of San Antonio artist called Xyloid, called “Digital Whispers.” A glance through Xyloid’s – who seems to like wacky symbols as much as Taquwami – various social networks reveals a fondness for seapunk, that style of music that might be a joke or it might not be. “Digital Whispers” certainly sounds seapunk, which is to say the part where the beat raves out sounds a lot like Unicorn Kid, which is pretty much my only frame of reference for seapunk. Yet what makes this more than fodder for Ecco The Dolphin jokes is the hazy dream-quality also imbued into this song. Check the vocal sample – which sounds like Taquwami’s calling card – and those keyboard taps opening up the track. Both artists compliment one another well, and make “Digital Whispers” a nice listen. Check it below.