Fancy Mike - Madison Square Gardner

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  • Over the course of this debut EP for the new King Deluxe imprint, Mike Gardner never gives into gimmickry or neglects to flesh out what could be a sketch; for the most part, the eight tracks here are full-fledged songs. His palette is familiar but all his own, built solid, and the clash of heavy, physical percussion with curling and coiling synths is more than a little reminiscent of Flying Lotus. Indeed, he shares a common penchant for giddy 8-bit sounds, but then what he does with them is anything but ordinary. On "Madison Square Gardner" and elsewhere they're thickened with corrosive fuzz, and "Lazer Opera" goes full-bore into videogame mode, uncannily channeling the supremely catchy melodrama of classic Castlevania with its perpetually descending melody. Along with the 8-bit obsession, Gardner also soaks up other stylistic tics, notably "Mickey Mouse" which holds up a Dilla-esque clipped string section against burning synths and junglist airhorns. The EP closes with "Three Mountains," which sends his tumbling metallic beats through a misty fog of drone. Madison Square Gardner takes the best parts of a vibrant scene full of unimaginative copycats and concocts his own confident blend, and while his own unique sound has yet to completely surface, there's something big lurking underneath the surface.
  • Tracklist
      01. Ramachandran 02. Ivy League Smack 03. Lazer Opera 04. Mickey Mouse 05. Hipster Crack 06. Cartoon Pornography 07. Madison Square Gardner 08. Three Mountains
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