RAP/RAP/RAP: ASHIKAGA TAKAUJI

RAP/RAP/RAP is one of my most cherished finds of the past couple years. I still struggle to pinpoint exactly what it is that's so powerful about beats so deceptively crude. First time I listened, I just mistook them for those of another drum machine pretender, but slowly I found that the thick air of heaviness and dissonance (tonal, textural, cultural) they so insistently explored was their unexpected attraction. You end up imagining the sort of subjectivity these tracks embody - a person/ world/viewpoint  that is slick and hi-tech yet brainless, too cool and yet too tough. I tried writing about it in an article that looked at RAP/RAP/RAP alongside two other vaguely similar producers, a i r s p o r t s and Karmelloz, but didn't manage to diffuse his power. The Portuguese producer will provide the latest release on Lisbon's very exciting Golden Mist records, and the teasing preview is above. A chunk of house, a shade too slow, spins wide-eyed next to metal objects from another dimension, senpai voices her anxieties but hey the water's fine fiiiiiiine.