#migamo

A lot of electronic music revolves around some melody, a female vocal sample being looped, and a supreme build up to “the drop”, in which the climax of the song blasts through with some very intensive synths. Mike Gao kicks all those fundamentals in the teeth and plants his explosive mix of electronic and hiphop right into the gaping mouth of the genre and blows the mind right out of it. Migamo is my favorite release of 2015 so far. Right from the get go, you get some heavy kicks and Rhodes melody, which drops into an off-beat slur of synths and colors that gradually enlarges into a bigger and bigger structure of complex time and rhythm. The Neo-80’s feel makes it nostalgic with some analogue bass and synthesizers, but the drums are excitingly contemporary. You can dive right into this album from any song and get pulled into it with ease. The incredible track “Shoemaker” takes odd real world sounds such as a pot being banged and some kung-fu sounding swooshes, and makes a mind bender of a song that is bass heavy and ready for its own twerk anthem. The only gripe is that the contemporary drums might drive off anyone who listens to more standard time signature flows, but that doesn’t stop Mike Gao from creating something unique and grabbing in a world where new ideas are an oxymoron.