I know this sounds weird, but one of the reason’s I listen to music is because it helps me orient myself in space (not literally, like these cute motherf–king owls— but spiritually, I guess). And for the purposes of that specific exercise, the stranger something sounds in my ear, the better. If I hear something super foreign and disorienting, I feel like I can get a better sense of where boundaries and foundation are.
That is why I am currently all over “Rico Elemex”, by Tokyo-based artist Shuji Suzuki (look at how cute that picture issssss), aka Ventla, who is part of the consistently great Astro Nautico roster. The track sounds like a really skewed version of lounge music, sorta like Todd Terje’s “Leisure Suit Preben” mixed with this track from ToeJam and Earl. And there is that coda that sounds like someone pitch corrected the “Green Hill Zone Theme” or is maybe playing Sonic The Hedgehog on a busted Sega Genesis. But the best part about this song is that it is just one of 24 on a super eclectic album that is another addition to Ventla’s initiative to create 100 albums of free music. And if that sounds like a pie-in-the-sky pipe-dream to you, then you should know that Ventla is already halfway done, so we’ve all got a lot of listening to do.
Check out the track above, and if you are curious about who else is on the Astro Nautico roster, check out this excellent mix the label did for us last summer:
