Timesup EP

Nguzunguzu are as hard to define as their name is to pronounce (ProTip: it's "noozoo noozoo" but if you just kind of mumble something people usually get the idea) which is one of the things I've always found most exciting about them. They're usually labled with the rather dubious Future Bass, a telling tag that speaks of their next-level use of rhythms, hooks and samples. It's fitting, then, that this is the first release by new label Fade To Mind, the American answer to the revolutionary Night Slugs. The three original productions on this EP are almost otherworldly, bubbling productions that pulse and grow before exploding with a kick and a snap. 'Timesup' plays a delicate musicbox duet with clicking watch-hands and some pitched vocal samples before 'Water Bass Power' unsheaths itself like a knife, gleaming bright with spacey synths.'Wake Sleep' is more ethereal, burbling electronics that rise like bubbles underneath some pounding timpanis. The two remixes are even bigger; FTM labelhead Kingdom takes a Nicole Wray vocal and turns 'Timesup' into an R&B-flavored brooder, but it's the Total Freedom remix of 'Wake Sleep' that lurks as the black sheep of the collection. Heavy and dark with vocal samples that wail and shriek, it's a beautiful nightmare closer. 'Timesup' is Nguzunguzu's most vibrant EP yet, an extremely listenable combination of experimental sounds and club-friendly bass that will ensure their name will be on the lips of DJs around the world. Even if they can't pronounce it properly.