Originally a purveyor of melancholic art-rock inspired
chiptune which dabbled with samples, this, Ville’s first release in nearly a year
(and maybe his last ever), sees the end of an on-going identity crisis. Ditching almost all of his chiptune past, here Ville goes full throttle on the sampled mayhem, sounding like Holy Konni through
a purple haze.
Constantly traversing the borders of genre classification,
this six track EP forms a medley of ideas, sounds and atmospheres. ‘C-Luff’
opens with trap attitude and seapunk glimmer, evolving quickly with volatility into an attractive mesh of influences and sound. ‘dnstpdtsd’ opens with Clapton-esque guitar lines
over creeping sampled vocals and rolling synths, slowly ebbing and flowing
until the track sounds like an improvised chillwave jam. Also, whilst it goes on a
bit too long for comfort, ‘BEACH’ subsides with low oceanic bass plucks, and when it
does hit the mark it's hypnotic.
The release also features two remixes by fellow members of
the ‘4AmPmCollective’, a group which, put rather ostentatiously themselves, are
‘A collective founded as a democratic, eclectic and independent space operating
as a portal, of well-crafted and worthwhile music and…’, well you get the idea. Pretension aside, the first of the remixes, by Alley Catss, adds nothing to the
release save to highlight through juxtaposition the ingenious use of samples employed
by Ville beforehand. The second remix, by Cloud Whale, is a different
story however, transforming the downtempo progressive rock of 'dnstpdtsd’
into idm/seapunk house perfection, undulating through the heavy atmosphere with
a keen sense of dynamics and subtle, flowing structure.
Whilst ‘Taiyou no Shippo’ and its accompanying remix may be
a tad insipid, Ville’s most recent work spits out quality and sample-mastery at
every other turn. Whilst this release may not be considered chiptune, with a
bit of practice, Ville Wannabe could easily be the Piggy master; he already has the sensibilities and talent, he
just needs the equipment and time.
Favourite track: C-Luff
