Browsing Tag

Glitch Hop

Area 51 has nothing on Koosha Azim’s psychedelically sensory experience, ALIEN

Posted on 24 June 2022

Haunting and transcending are two rarely joined adjectives; the Iranian American contemporary artist, Koosha Azim, pushed them into a tight-knit while exploring alt-hip hop and psychedelia in his sensory soundscape, ALIEN.

The bleeding vocals, cinematically ethereal layers, and playfully unpretentious creativity are a stellular pleasure which scarcely resembles any Avant-Garde score that experimentalists have left behind before.

If he keeps pushing in this gratifyingly trippy and obscure direction, the San Francisco Bay Area artist will have the airwaves at his feet in no time. Naturally, we can’t wait to hear the transcendence that follows.

Koosha Azim’s latest single, ALIEN is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Oberry gets candid on self-sabotage in his trap pop single, don’t fall in line.

Posted on 28 February 2022

From the suburbs of Chicago, the experimental trap pop artist, Oberry, is here with his latest aural offering, don’t fall in line. After a jangly lo-fi interlude, Oberry’s distortedly animatronic vocals appear atop the scratchy and glitchy sun-bleached EDM beats which constantly switch from hard-hitting to fragile; setting the perfect tone for the emotionally rocky release.

don’t fall in line may initially resonate as an eccentric and twee for 2022 track but once the lyrics start to introduce you to the true essence of the single, you’ll find a deep level of respect for Oberry for being so candid on the subject of using self-destructive habits as a rebellious act.

If we are all honest with ourselves, we have all been there. don’t fall in line wasn’t the first single released by Oberry that delivers resonance hand over fist. His previous singles, all my homies hate the world, and parasocial friend have each racked up over 10k streams on Spotify alone – proving we’re not the only ones instantly obsessed with Oberry’s inventive songwriting style.

Oberry isn’t your average trap pop star, but it’s his intimate autonomy that draws you so deep into his experimental tracks. Any artist bold enough to release an album as twee as “I drawed a doggy” is undoubtedly worth following.

don’t fall in line is now available to stream on Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The future of hip hop arrived in Gud Cyrus’ spacey electro debut album, Until Next Time.

Posted on 5 February 2022

Mississauga, ON-hailing artist and songwriter Gud Cyrus is fresh from the release of his dynamic hotly-anticipated debut album, Until Next Time. For new fans, the standout single, Anomaly, is the best introduction to Cyrus’ evocatively spacey signature style that hasn’t failed to attract international attention.

After an ethereal prelude that feels like it has just crawled out of a David Lynch film (in the best possible way), Anomaly starts to unravel as an intriguingly experimental feat of urban ingenuity. Anomaly takes the evolution of hip hop one step further into the future with the glitchy and scattered effects that would be jarring if the grooves in the track didn’t cut so deep.

Gud Cyrus’ album is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Yung Rager stayed true to his moniker in his juggernaut of a glitch wave hip hop track, Bubonic

Posted on 4 February 2022

Yung Rager’s moniker makes immediate sense when you hit play on the chaotically glitchy alt-hip hop single, Bubonic. In the stormer of a track, glitch wave, harsh electronica, and indie hip hop collide to tumultuous and galvanising effect.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Bubonic is so much more than a mash of fiery rap bars and vocals and chaotic electronic sequences. The hook-filled track reels you in from the intro and keeps you transfixed in the moody and harsh progressions. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more cathartically volatile new release in 2022. Affix Yung Rager firmly to your radar.

Bubonic is just one of the tracks that feature on Yung Ranger’s brand-new EP, Pain Prohibits Love, that will drop on January 28th, 2022. It is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

themoonmustset made new wave rap wavier in his latest release, Make It Home

Posted on 25 January 2022

From 80s goth to new wave rap, few sounds evade the fusionist style of the up and coming Dallas, TX-native, themoonmustset. His latest single, Make It Home, is a trippy-to-the-point-of-being-ethereal release that uses glitchy distorted beats under his urgent and visceral rap bars.

I’m fairly sure you would have heard the phrase “it’s a vibe” before; this track becomes the epitome of it with its spacey, wavey progressions and the full-frontal human element pouring into the mix through the tuned and effect-laden vocals.

The 22-year-old artist produces, records, mixes and masters every release put out under his name. We can only hope that there are more locked, loaded and ready to drop releases from themoonmustset.

Make It Home is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Newfaces embraces the chaos in his glitchy EDM hip hop single, I Can’t Make You Love Me

Posted on 25 December 2021

Experimentalism has always been an intrinsic part of Newfaces’ creativity. Yet, with his latest alt electro single, the LA-based artist and producer moved into Avant-Garde territory with his glitchy serving of hip hop, Neo soul and RnB pop.

With stormy and tribal textures entwined in the artful arrangement, I Can’t Make You Love Me is touched by chaos as a reflection of torrid human emotion. While the driving momentum in the gorgeously layered single never lets any of the weight in the candid lyricism sit uncomfortably. If Saul Williams collaborated with Radiohead, the sonic result wouldn’t be all too different from the absolute triumph that is I Can’t Make You Love Me. Newfaces’ sound leaves you with no uncertainty around how he managed to garner so much hype. He’s definitely one to watch.

I Can’t Make You Love Me is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glitch Hop Meets Cloud Rap in Trukadi’s Latest Single, Pick and Choose

Posted on 10 September 2021

After his 2019 debut, the Californian alt-pop artist, Trukadi, hasn’t failed to make an impression with his antagonistic lyrics and experimental beats. His latest single, Pick and Choose, is a distortedly electrifying 1:43 minute hit of glitchy cloud rap with hints of Midwest Emo.

The explicit track carries the indie melodicism of a Post Malone single, but Trukadi made sure Pick and Choose hits like no other with instantly magnetic vocals and lo-fi guitars that bring plenty of warmth to the distinct production that marries glitch hop and emo. Love him or hate him, there will be no indifference when it comes to Trukadi’s sound, and there are few greater testaments of talent than that.

Pick and Choose is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

terrel flower explores disassociation with his Lynchian glitch-hop track, ‘I’m not me’.

Posted on 21 May 2021

Experimental artist terrel flower has released his sophomore single, I’m not me, it may be difficult to pigeonhole in terms of genre, but in terms of feeling, it’s a reflection of dissociative ennui that kicks with an artfully Lynchian feeling of desolation.

Sticking to the darker side of the tonal palette in the downtempo and minimalist single, terrel flower gave the single a chilling atmosphere that allows you to carouse in monochromatic lament. With elements of glitch hop and ambient EDM within the single, fans of Portishead and Hooverphonic will want to indulge in the dark yet compassionately resonant single that welcomes you in and offers solidarity from the track title alone. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but neither was Albert Camus’ poetry, and therein lies the outlier beauty in I’m not me.

I’m not me is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rose Venom’s Roses Have Thorns

Posted on 9 April 2021

‘Roses Have Thorns’ is the lead track from Rose Venom’s new single ‘Love Shit’, a neat little slab of Hip Hop which opens with a soft, chilled little piano riff before Venom’s angry-yet-beautiful vocal. Telling the story of a ruined love, Venom’s tale of growth and finding oneself amidst the fallout and wreckage – ‘left me so broke inside…/I’m glad I survived you/ I grew some thorns to fight you, boy…’ – ‘Roses Have Thorns’ mixes Rose Venom’s soft-yet-strong voice with an equally soft-yet-strong message among the delicate instrumentation and multi-layered delivery.

A mother of two children originally from Moscow but now living in Philadelphia, this is no story of brotherly love but rather a lost-love letter to hurt, regret, and quiet, simmering rage. It’s potent, powerful, and poetic.

Check out ‘Roses Have Thorns’, and the rest of ‘Love Shit’, on Spotify.  Look up Rose Venom on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Explord Leaves Us Wanting ‘More’

Posted on 26 February 2021

Busting out of Missouri, the US Midwest isn’t perhaps the first place you think of as the home of kicking glitchhop, but here with ‘More’ presaging his new EP ‘Exposure’, composer/producer Logan S – a.k.a. Explord – has pretty much knocked it out of the park.

Dubsteppy, dark in places yet chilled and laid-back, ‘More’s sparsely instrumented with an excellent repeated female vocal motif and reverb-soaked drums punctuating the sequenced electronica. It sounds in moments like an old-school chiptune piece, or maybe incidental music from 90’s arcade games; think Ridge Racer or Outrun, rain-soaked streets and night-time neon mixed with the Glitch Mob, Pegboard Lights, or KOAN Sound.

You can check out ‘More’, and Explord’s new EP, on Spotify, or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes