ARISTOPHANES 貍貓 FT SUMI & PETECHAN 牆裡人 THE WALL

Here is some more from Groove Bunny Records, the up and coming Chinese label who recently facilitated the release of Madpete's Cantonese Boom Bap. This is a little different in that it features more than one, more than two, artists on the track. First of all we have Aristophanes, the young female rapper from Taiwan - the first time I wrote about her it was for her song 'The Peach Blossom' (you should check it out). Secondly, we have one half of Madpete: Petechan, Taiwanese producer who has also created the beats on this track. Thirdly, there are the vocals of Sumi - a Belgium-based singer.

All of that comes together in this lovely track '牆裡人 / The Wall'. It is at once dominated by the undeniable head-bopping old school hip hop vibe that Petechan has constructed. Completely off-kilter and dripping with swagger, it is gloriously left to sparkle without too much heavy bass or other synth instruments floating in its way: in this way it's a kind of minimalistic song. The beat features glass-cracking hi-hats, unassuming kicks, heavy-duty snares. Samples sparkle and cheeky organs peek through the beat playfully.

Sumi provides sung vocals, a dreamlike sound that stretch out almost like a chorus. They're given pride of place towards the end of the song, suiting the beat-instrumental perfectly - adding softness to the general harsh reality of the live-sounding drums. Just another nice element of this nice song.

As always, Aristophanes' voice is flawless. It's so expressive, lilting in and out of the Mandarin bars, aching along with her words, sometimes whispering with a sultry hiss. Not always as before, however - her voice has been more layered this time, allowed to bounce around afterwards. And that's not a bad sound at all - I could actually listen to a lot more of her voice, so to have it echoing around and displayed with a fuller sound is a great thing, really.

Back to waiting now for more Aristophanes. Perhaps an album one day? Could be a possibility. Now that she's with Groove Bunny Records, it's a distinct likelihood. And with many artists willing to collaborate with her to create great sounds, there's a chance it could be a very diverse, interesting and very cool recording indeed.

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Like Aristophanes 貍貓 on Facebook
Listen to Aristophanes 貍貓 on Soundcloud

Listen to Sumi on SoundCloud

Listen to Petechan on SoundCloud