TatzumaKiii - UKiiiYO 浮​世​絵

I think TatzumaKiii might be the closest thing we have to a modern-day Flying Lotus. Both his inspiration and his sound feels equally grounded and cosmic, pulling familiar samples and instruments, but chopping and changing them to where they start feeling alien. It’s on his most recent tape that I feel his most personal musical characteristics are beautifully painted on a canvas, like a self-portrait highlighting glitchy textures and heart-warming melodies, all doused in tape hiss. These beats feel slow-moving and alive, taking their time to immerse you into their world, but seem to be constantly growing and breathing, layers tapping in and tapping out by their own accord. I know it’s in the warm vocal samples and synthetic harmonies that these beats have their heart, but every moment here just feels so deeply textured, TatzumaKiii blending all the electronic elements with sounbites of birds chirping, finger snaps and little rushes of water. It gives the music a beautiful blend of this world and another, like taking a walk through a forest with 8bit cherry blossoms. The whole thing amasses to such a captivating experience, often swinging like jazz but glitching like chiptune. No two tracks really sound or move in the same way, and apart from being immensely enjoyable, TatzumaKiii’s tape reminds me of the creativity that can be borne from limitation, and if this really all was made on an iPad, I can only commend the dude for what he’s built here. I feel great pride to share a city with this underground legend, even if the music doesn’t feel like it’s of this planet at all.

KEY BEAT: DHALSiiiM's SAVASANA - one of the most head-knocking but perplexing moments on the tape, I can never seem to work out this beat’s chord progression or even what instrument it is, low-pitched and warped. All embodied around slow kicks and dragging shakers, TatzumaKiii cooked up an incredible groove on this one.