- A dreamy club record from an exciting pocket of the Seoul underground.
- Something enchanting is brewing in Seoul. The city has seen a slew of releases from a fresh crop of experimental artists, running the gamut from the abrasive rapidfire club tracks of bela to the serene IDM of Yeong Die. Loosely centered around Helicopter Records and parties like No Club and Quick Die, many of these artists are miles apart sonically, but share a lightness of touch—adding humor to the heavy and often academic world of experimental electronics. Yetsuby occupies an important role in this scene as one of the few producers inching towards club music, and on her debut EP she wanders through drum & bass and glitchy minimal with a wide-eyed curiosity.
Opener "Bear Becomes The Human" is a good barometer for the record as a whole, starting with twinkling chords suspended in the night air before Yetsuby unleashes a careening breakbeat in the second half. It's an absolute bomb—and maybe the only drum & bass track to reinterpret a traditional Korean folk story about a bear becoming human after eating garlic and green onions. "Jelly" slows things down with Yetsuby's take on after hours paranoia. It's the darkest (and best) track on the record, and it's only in the off-kilter pads she teases in the song's second half that we see her trademark levity. On his remix, Kiwi producer Eden Burns takes no prisoners, turning "Jelly" into a pumping trance track complete with warm, warbled synth notes.
Yetsuby started an NTS residency this February as Salamanda, her collaboration with Uman Therma. As a production duo, the two favor floating ambient where rhythms weave in and out haphazardly. Their debut radio show, on the other hand, was meant for proper raving, as they traversed vintage acid, bass-heavy UK techno and even eccied-out prog. Single Origin splits the difference between these two poles—it's full of whimsical splotches of color, but will also hopefully find its way into the hands of DJs, bringing more attention to this corner of Seoul's underground.
Tracklist01. Bear Becomes The Human
02. Bay
03. Jelly
04. Jelly (Eden Burns Remix)