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***After a year of hibernation, DJ /Rupture's Soot Records is up and running. Fast. The label's debut CD release is a 32-minute EP by Ove-Naxx, a young rising star within Japan's highly evolved noise and electronica scene who is about to bend heads worldwide. Bullets From Habikino City HxCx, Ove-Naxx's first release outside of Japan, showcases a delirious take on raggamuffin drum & bass and post-modern Nipponese pop. Catchy synth melodies buzz inside fast-moving thickets of percussion. Reggae and video-game music are an obvious influence, as are Japanese harmonic systems. The overall sound can be compared to artists such as Venetian Snares, DJ /Rupture, Knifehandchop or Squarepusher, but Ove-Naxx's superb production has a voice all its own. Meticulous sampling, nonstandard IDM flourishes, and psychedelic digital noise swell around uptempo reggae-flavored beats as funky as they are fractured. Ove-Naxx makes intricate pop songs and is unafraid to use distortion, speed, and mayhem as compositional tools. Despite its hypercomplex drum programming, this is unabashedly soulful music - flowing earnestly from Ove-Naxx's cyborg heart. Remember the "punky reggae party" Bob Marley sang about? This is what it will sound like in 2017, at your local roller-skating rink. |
