Yaeji—WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던

Yaeji seemed to appear fully-formed, with no knock and no doorbell, as one of the most charismatic vocalists and producers working. Her instantly recognisable style—which reframes New York as an incorporeal and impossibly chilled place—now welcomes a full-length mixtape, WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, to its canon.

WHAT WE DREW… carries over the melancholic humour of Yaeji’s previous releases. Lead single ‘WAKING UP DOWN’ is catchy enough that its lyrical strength is easy to overlook. Beneath the track’s propulsive veneer, the comic defeatism of Morrissey scatters the ground—heightening both the absurdity and need of dancing through your pain. And, unlike Morrissey, Yaeji seems like someone who’d be a blast to hang out with.

Perhaps this is part of the problem. Coasting on her irresistible appeal, Yaeji’s vocals are one of the few elements which don’t feel like they’ve been tweaked in the three years since EP2. Some multi-track layering and reverb on the mixtape’s title track add a fresh feeling of dreaminess—but these effects are de-emphasised, even lost, in the mix. It feels as though the producer is struggling to step from the shadow of her acclaim; innovations and fresh takes hidden behind the safe and familiar.

Some collaborations try to break the spell too—but their quality is inconsistent and at worst dire. ‘FREE INTERLUDE’ is freestyled to a fault. Lil Fayo, trenchcoat, and Sweet Pea prove it’s difficult to do “that Yaeji thing”, contributing lyrics which are neither as charming nor witty as anyone wanted them to be (except maybe “a cheech has a sturple”). The result is studio outtake material which recalls the worst of classic hip-hop skits—and, more criminally, is a waste of a great beat.

Maybe this is a limitation of the form; you can’t release a mixtape without a few collaborations. But these collaborations subtract from WHAT WE DREW… more often than they add.

These problems wouldn’t be felt as keenly without the radical changes Yaeji makes to her instrumentation. Synthesisers have a new brightness and wonderful analogue feeling; intimate and crystalline, where previously they’d have been distant and murky. Compositions are driven by chords and melodies as often as they are by beats. And sometimes, as in the breaks of ‘IN THE MIRROR 거울’, even these beats are revised, revolutionised, searching new territories.  

WHAT WE DREW… has, then, one foot in the future, another stuck in the mire of the past. And you can forgive this of a mixtape—its “unofficial” status (on a major label nonetheless) meant to signify the project as throwaway, thrown-together, messy and transitional. It’s just a shame it took three years to arrive.

WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던 is available for purchase and streaming here.

Words: Andrew O’Keefe

haircuts for men—nothing special, nothing wonderful

There is a quintessential vaporwave sound, informed largely by Vektroid’s genre-defining Floral Shoppe, which non-listeners will forever associate with the genre. That nothing special, nothing wonderful (the new album from haircuts for men) fits this formula so snugly is not to its disservice. Rather, the album spools out like a virtuosic jazz cat playing standards.

The fundamentals—screeching saxes and looping, apathetic, and beat-driven funk riffs—are executed in great style here. Dreamy synth tones waver subtly below the surface of tracks, deepening their texture. Samples are selected and deployed well. The album keeps a bitter-sweet edge, rather than suffusing to sardonic, insufferable cynicism. Beats are littered with just enough frills, fills and flourishes to maintain interest for the duration of nothing special….

On tracks like ‘my wife is on tinder’, the combined effect of these elements is something that sounds like an MF DOOM beat. Funky, but a little jagged and misshapen. Rich, warm; shot through with the tension of balancing humanity and inhumanity. It also boasts a deep house feel which is continued throughout the album—something like Coil’s recent reissue of The Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex, and many a porn soundtrack of yesteryear. The track is sensual but oddly disengaged (something you could say about a fair few vaporwave tracks). It benefits from an unusually powerful mix, which emphasises some massive kicks without losing high-end clarity. It’s not the shopping centre’s tinny ceiling speakers—it’s a boombox across the street.

Elsewhere, ‘sweatpants’ combines its samba beat with vast reggae dub bass—a pool of sampling material almost unheard of in a genre defined by 80s pop and funk—to magnificent effect. And some soaring, disconnected vocal samples carry the album’s house throughline for some internal consistency.

nothing special, nothing wonderful attempts to nullify its own existence with that title. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking or unfamiliar on the album. But if that’s what you came to vaporwave for, maybe you’re missing the point. As haircuts for men says, “everything is plundered.” But, as plundering goes, this is more of a casino heist than a drunken scrump.

nothing special, nothing wonderful is available for purchase and streaming here.

Words by Andrew O’Keefe

LOGIC1000 — LOGIC1000

A cocktail of tabla, handclaps and speedy snares open LOGIC1000. It sounds punchy and simple. But Samantha Poulter's danceable beats conceal great complexity. Individual drum lines drop in and out of the mix, rejuvenating those that had surrounded them. Poulter's touch here is deft, near-invisible. It makes the first track pass in seconds.

'The River is Tight' follows -- a short, moody sketch, punctured by a relentless, funereal gong. We nosedive from the opener's euphoria into implacable unease. It's the only track bereft of an immediate sense of joy. It's also your last opportunity to catch your breath.

Straight into this EP's standout, 'DJ Logic Please Forgive Me'. It's an infectious remix of 90s R&B legend Deborah Cox; irresistible old-school vocal house. This is a shameless throwback whose ambition doesn't extend that far beyond making everyone dance. But Poulter finds strength in pragmatism. She achieves her ambitions by imposing smart limits on them. Better to do one thing well — and this does its thing exceptionally.

Once she's got you dancing, Poulter follows up with 'Derrière'. This charismatic piece swaddles a charming and cheeky vocal sample in insistent rhythms and buzzing bass. It's LOGIC1000's infectious sense of fun, boiled down into one brief, potent package.

This is an absolutely loveable release. Stuffed with diverse influences; tight, bouncy grooves and squeaky-clean production. The second it's over you'll want to start it again.

Shades of the stellar Kelly Lee Owens, Kelela and Aaliyah. LOGIC 1000 is available to stream and purchase here.

Words by Andrew O’Keefe