Back to bring you the best of the underground comes another installment of Focus Five. For Volume 21 we’ve got some fitlhy bass coming out of Nevada, another French future beat artist heating up, a producer who defies genres and titles, a fan submission who completely blew our mind, and one of dubstep’s most promising new artists. Get familiar with them all below.
CVPTVGON
Reno has newly established itself as a primary arena for boundary-defying electronic music production, providing homage to a slew of modern creative minds such as Nevada newcomer CVPTVGON. Like a bat out of hell, CVPTVGON first made his introduction with the insatiably wobbly and tactfully distorted ‘dabsdabsdabs,’ which features vocal snippets from Danny Brown’s ‘Die Like a Rockstar’ and has quickly garnered traction since its release 6 months ago.
What the Nevada-native lacks in quantity he more than compensates for in quality, demonstrating an ability to work both unaccompanied with his own ideas, as depicted in ruthless solo efforts ‘Artillery’ and ‘Wook Grinder,’ as well as cohesively in collaboration with talented colleagues such as MeSo and Jonnie Boi. Keep a keen eye as CVPTVGON is shaping up to be a household name in the arena of experimental bass!
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D0d.
The French beat scene is currently ablaze. From Sebjin to tices and now D0d., it seems every month we’re highlighting a new French beatmaker. Much like the former two, D0d.’s style is the perfect mixture of future beat and trap. Sprinkling in hip-hop and R&B influences with a cinematic allure adds an extra layer of decadence to his opulent sound. Ever wondered what Adele would sound like amidst future trap backing and captivating strings? ‘Utopia’ is your answer. Looking for something a little meaner? ‘Amnesia’ is the theme music for a super-villain’s rise to power. Still not dark enough? Take a trip into ‘Dystopia’ as Snoop Dogg creeps through the scene crushing skulls in a 50 foot exoskeleton as the earth burns. If you’re looking for an adventure with no shortage of bump, D0d. is your tour guide. Strap in tight.
-C
Lewis Cancut
Despite that the numbers don’t do it justice, NLV Records is definitely one of the most iconic labels in my personal pantheon. The way they united a team of extremely fascinating artists around such a unique sound and aesthetic is a prime example of how a successful label should look in my opinion. One of the assets of this colorful group is, without doubt, Lewis CanCut. In a comment from November 2017 I defined one of his classics as a “a melodic, post-human love song,” he labels his brand new EP as ‘Quasi-Club-Tropical-Pop-FreestyleElectro-NewAge-Lifestyle’ and someone else instead has defined him as “a mix of like Wave Racer and Sophie”. As you can already figure out, finding a proper tag for this Aussie producer is a futile effort, but what is indisputable instead, is his talent to go beyond conventions and create memorable and unique pieces of art.
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PALPA
Last month I tweeted asking our followers for recommendations for the most slept on trap producers. I received no shortage of responses and was pleasantly surprised to have uncovered a few gems that I was indeed sleeping on. Going through the list of producers tagged, none stood out more than Chicago based producer PALPA. Listening through his SoundCloud for the first time, I was enamoured by the impressiveness and wealth of releases on his page. His sound is versatile without being incoherent. Every track posseses a pristine amount of knock with an array of other awe-inspiring elements including rap samples, pounding percussion and ludicrous loops. Recent releases like ‘xra 200’ and ‘acovado’ are a solid starting point for new listeners but it was ‘wild rum’ that had me yelling “woooo!” with a Ric Flair level of enthusiasm. Sunset inspired guitar licks, ferocious flutes, dismaying drums, intoxicating vocals, booming bass and an all around exotic air make it an unparalleled intoxicant that’s sure to have you thirsty for multiple rounds. With an EP in the works, it’s safe to say PALPA is an artist you need to be watching.
-C
voltra
The underground SoundCloud dubstep scene is currently thriving. Up-and-coming artists are supporting each other to no limits and even big names are making more of an effort to get unknown talents heard by the masses. Among the fastest rising stars in this scene is voltra, a mysterious producer who has gone from 200 followers in early September to over a thousand today. Earning support from the likes of Oolacile, Akeos, Chime and many more already, the future looks bright for voltra, and reasonably so. Their latest track, ‘SHADER UNIT,’ is an intricate display of voltra’s insane production talents, from creating awe-inspiring, emotional introductions and bridges to unleashing a fury of crisp sound design in the drops. ‘PULSE FIRE’ is similar, using a happy hardcore-inspired introduction before repeated stabs of bass penetrate you straight to your core. Keep a close eye on voltra.
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Words by Alessio, Colin, Sam and Steph.
