Shlohmo is one of those musicians that has always held this sort of magnetism over me; his dark, moody productions are satisfying without fail. He manages to keep a pop sensibility in his melodies, harmonic progressions, and percussive elements while creating a thoroughly otherworldly vibe on the whole. His latest effort, which exists only as youtube rip (embedded below) from Benji B’s radio show the other day possesses all the aforementioned characteristics while still feeling fresh and new, a clear progression from his Vacation EP era material. The drums are really what get me here, skittering tuned percussion that maintains the energy of hip-hop while swinging like a UK garage cut and staying weird and non-quantized enough to keep a beat scene kid breaking his/(her?) neck to it. No word on a release yet, I’m hoping to hear this on a sophomore Friends of Friends LP (or underneath Abel Tesyafe’s beautiful, demonic crooning).

Speaking of that wonderful LA label, check out a stream of a cut from the upcoming FoF debut LP from that fool on the left, Groundislava, right here. It’s some real trap shit, but without biting anybody’s style. I see big things in Mr. Lava’s future.