DANSU EP
For her debut EP, 'Dansu' Belgian-Japanese artist Aili has joined forces with another of Belgium's most exciting new acts Transistorcake, the pair working through lockdown to produce a wonderfully fresh sounding 5 track release on Eskimo Recordings. Effortlessly bringing together elements of Kosmiche Musik, Acid House, Electronica, Disco & Leftfield Pop, the 'Dansu' EP is as easy on the ears as it is hard to categorise.
| Genre | Caribbean | Reggae | Dub |
|---|---|
| Format | VINYL |
| Cat. no | 541416511551 |
| Label | ESKIMO RECORDINGS |
| Artist | AILI X TRANSISTORCAKE |
| Release Date | 11/06/2021 |
| Carrier | 12" |
| Barcode | 5414165123088 |
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Tracklisting
DANSU EP
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TRACKLISTING
A1. Aili x Transistorcake - Dansu
A2. Aili x Transistorcake - Oki
B1. Aili x Transistorcake - Pari Pari
B2. Aili x Transistorcake - Genki
B3. Aili x Transistorcake - Futsu
INFO
For her debut EP, 'Dansu' Belgian-Japanese artist A ili has joined forces with another of Belgium's most exciting new acts Transisto rcake, the pair working through lockdown to produce a wonderfully fresh sounding 5 track release on Eskimo Recordings. Effortlessly bringing together elements o f Kosmiche Musik, Acid House, Electronica, Disco & Leftfield Pop, the 'Dansu' EP is as easy on the ears as it is hard to categorise.
"I met Orson at a party a couple of years ago," recalls Aili. "I had been making music by myself for a while and wanted to take it more seriously. He was known as this 'music g uy', so I approached him and we hit it off right away. He has so much studio kno wledge I can take my tracks to him and he gets where I want to go with it."
"We had been batting these tracks back and forth between ourselves whilst locked in our flats earlier this year trying to get the music right. At one poi nt I started singing over the top of 'Dansu' in Japanese, I'm not really sure wh y but it just came out like that and everything started to click," Aili explains .
"I left Tokyo for Belgium when I was 7 years old and in many ways m y Japanese stayed at that level. When I sing in Japanese it put me into this nai ve, almost childlike mindset that allows me to express what I feel right away. Y ou don't need to understand the words just the feeling that they convey."
< br />Opening the EP is the title track 'Dansu', a hymn to dancing the night away , made more poignant being written and recorded as Brussels' club sat shut. Over a taut Motorik rhythms Aili's hushed vocals blending perfectly with lambent was hes of synths to create a hypnotic, languorously funky, track with echoes of art ists like Can or Stereolab.
Anyone who's heard Transistorcake's previ ous releases will know his love of a 303 and 'Oki' sees the pair up the tempo an d twist a sinuous acid bass line over Aili's chopped up vocals and mantra like c hant of "Oki ku natara" ("when I grow up") to create a propulsive club track.
Sticking with the squelchy bass line, 'Pari Pari' drops the tempo and u ps the funk, Aili's vocals perfectly blending in with the ethereal synths to cre ate an other-worldly vibe. Curious minds should know the track takes its title f rom Aili's dad's name for tonkatsu, a kind of Japanese schnitzel, that crackle ( Japanese - Pari) as you eat them, there you go you've learned something new toda y.
'Genki' sees the pair bring back those Motorik rhythms that kicked off the EP this time accompanied by mesmerising synths and another writhing, hy pnotic acid melody all punctuated by Aili's vocals, composed entirely from gaira igo, English 'loan words' that have entered the Japanese language.
Cl osing out the EP 'Futsu' has an almost kitsch quality to it, filled with a heady mix of electronic sounds, strange percussion and Aili's stop-start sing-song vo cals. "When I talk to my dad on the phone and ask him how he's doing, the answer is always: "mama bochi bochi futsu," explains Aili. "So Futsu's an ode to the m any, many inside jokes between my sister, my father and me."
Gleefull y eclectic and joyful in nature, the 'Dansu' EP is a perfect introduction to Ail i and her musical world, a playful place where anything goes. With the pair curr ently working together on a new live show it's to be hoped it won't be too long before we can all dance together again.
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