FITZ AMBRO$E CREPWME

Here's a right treat for this Friday: an album called crepwme by Tokyo-based producer Fitz Ambro$e, who originally comes from eastern Canada. Released 25th October of this year, crepwme (who knows what that means) is a glitchy, electro-doused mega-dose of hip hop, and I love it. There's something about that hip hop rhythm, the laidback offbeat that forms the base for so, so, so many songs that you cannot help but fit into, like a slipping into the most comfortable marshmallow-consistency armchair, cannot help but bop your head to. It's the perfect kind of music to accompany any normal everyday activity - and this kind of hip hop particularly, brimming as it is with fizzy, blippy, whizzy bubblings of electronica, makes everyday life just that bit more exciting. Sometimes a good soundtrack is all it takes to brighten up someone's day.

The whole album from start to finish is delicious, like an endless platter of tasty treats that do not get any less tasty as you float your way through them. Each song winds into the next one flawlessly, creating an atmosphere of continuity that is expertly pockmarked with different vibes from track to track. Reminding me at times of the kind of glitteringly electronic and experimental hip hop that seems to be the overriding trend in Japan at the moment (must be some kind of influence), yet with enough sunny sounds as to retain a North American heart, listening to this whole album is a ride you'll not regret getting on.

From the heartwarming chill of songs like 'hun dipz (feat. eLan)' and end song 'prease', to more frantic and intense sounds - though still light and delicate in flavour - of 'lovzap', with its slightly menacing vocal sample and melting synths, and the endlessly fizzing 'sterio z', there is a great variance in what is essentially the same hip hop foundations: the sign of a good producer, surely.

Some of the songs seem a little short - for example, the simple sounds of 'fluzies' could go on for another 5 minutes at least, just because they are so lovely to hear: thin snares, a delicate synth chord hook, and gentle synth strings. It's the minimalism in songs like that and 'whaanye' - which features this weird, slurred, slow rap that totally fits the style - which, when contrasted with thicker-sounding songs like 'mr swervon', makes this album such an interesting listen. One minute, it's about the spaces in between the sounds, the next, it's about the sounds themselves. You can listen to the whole thing below, but if you fancy a taster before you delve right in, watch this video of a general mix of the album to get a feel for this intriguing artist's sound:

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