Nguzunguzu, the tongue-twistingly named LA duo of Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda, are set to release a new EP through reliably interesting label Hippos In Tanks in August. Entitled Warm Pulse, it’s the follow-up to last year’s Timesup EP (released through Fade To Mind), which gathered them a fair amount of attention.
Warm Pulse sees them up their game somewhat, tapping more explicitly into a very current transatlantic dancefloor-not-dancefloor sound that draws heavily from electro, trap-rap and footwork (in the US) and grime and dubstep (in the UK). So it’s battered around by heavy – and often heavily treated – drum machine kicks and chattering hi-hats, in the vein of contemporaries like Kuedo and Logos. Melodically it delves deep into the frosty repeated motifs and glassy surfaces of early grime instrumentals, setting Nguzunguzu alongside several other current producers mining similar territory. For more on others doing similar things, read the latest edition of our column on electronic music.
So far from matching its name, a great deal of Warm Pulse feels chilly and detached: highlight ‘Smoke Alarm’ is minimalist in execution, with the title’s high-pitched whine repeatedly interrupted by wordless moans reminiscent of the voices scattered across LHF’s recent Keepers Of The Light album. Another of those curiously placeless hybrids that finds its natural habitat in the clouds somewhere above the Atlantic, Warm Pulse is set for release on August 14th.
