- Since 2013, the Tokyo label Snaker has been a place for artists to release albums of library music, from Balearic dons like Tiago and Jonny Nash to homegrown producers like Cos/Mes. Its records are hand-painted and sold in limited runs. Their conceit frees artists from the rules of the dance floor, resulting in uncommonly evocative material.
It helps that Snaker—run by 5ive, one-half of Cos/Mes—has direct connections to producers with the stylistic diversity and wide musical knowledge to make the releases special. Samo DJ, real name Sam Forsberg Nyholm, and Maxxxbass, real name Max Stenerudh, are particularly well-suited for a Snaker album. Nyholm's work runs the gamut—he's made techno with Skudge as Four Legs, lo-fi house on his own and championed artists like Powder via Born Free, the label he runs with Sling. Stenerudh has released cassette albums of bizarre chillout music on Born Free and The Trilogy Tapes. On Snaker 008, the pair continue exploring the misty exoticism that defines their collaborative project, KWC 92, with some pleasant and unexpected diversions.
There are two types of music on Snaker 008: the kind that would appear on a KWC 92 album and the kind that wouldn't. In the former category, "What Once Was Is No More" offers chintzy Orientalism, like something you'd hear while running through a temple in an old Nintendo game. "Free Yourself From The Misery Of A Existence" is more intriguing. The beatless piece consists mostly of pensive Rhodes and far-off chants and woodwinds, as delicate and ephemeral as a morning fog.
Snaker 008's best moments, however, don't sound like KWC 92. One particularly strong section starts out with the Angola-referencing ambient piece "Transfer 2 Nangijala," which leads directly into album highlight "Dream Dream." Here, a marching-band snare is slathered with vocal samples that recall the disembodied R&B of Tri Angle Records. "Dream Light," is a dance-pop tune that samples Torch Song's "Don't Look Now." It's one of a few cuts on Snaker 008 that could score a driving scene, along with the wonky dance track that comes next, "Funky BMW."
Only one song here tops three and a half minutes. "Worship The Wang," maybe a reference to the Balihu Records boss given its spaced-out disco rhythm, is a breezy 40 seconds. You get the sense that Nyholm and Stenerudh had a lot of fun coming up with off-the-wall imagery and their corresponding soundtracks. The album closer, "Shower," is a bizarre, operatic edit that's comically rife with drama. The duo likely wouldn't have released it had they not been making music for what they call "a never seen science-fiction movie," and that's the beauty of Snaker's concept—it stretches producers to the limits of their musical imagination.
Tracklist01. Snakey
02. What Once Was Is No More
03. Dukkha
04. Free Yourself From The Misery Of A Existence
05. Worship The Wang
06. Elisa Hope
07. Transfer 2 Nangijala
08. Dream Dream
09. Dream Light
10. Funky BMW
11. Recover The Baton
12. Shower