Help Lando Kal Help You

Both in his solo work and as part of Lazer Sword, Lando Kal has streamlined his sonic aesthetic over the past few years. In the past, his output was quite hit or miss and revolved around eccentric hip hop explosives. The results were often fun, but there were just too many clunkers to really take Kal and Lazer Sword all that seriously. Of course, not all artists strive to be taken seriously as “artists” (and I don’t know his intentions), but there was a lackadaisical nature that surrounded his/their work. It’s not a coincidence that Kal recently moved to Berlin, a city known for dark, stripped down, concrete sounds, and most of all, Berghain type A techno. Although Kal doesn’t make true to form techno, the move to more straightforward house music has occurred simultaneous with the change of location.  The “Let You in the Sky/Help Myself” single, out now on Icee Hot, is Kal’s most developed, “serious” release to date and features two of the more polished tech house tracks you’ll listen to all year. “Let You In The Sky” is as glossy as it is funky, Kal reveling in the complexity of the arrangements. “Help Myself” is more difficult to digest and at times throws too many elements at the listeners, but offers an impressively broad vision. You can cop the single, which also features remixes from Grown Folk and Anthony Shakir, over at Boomkat.