My My - Butterflies & Zebras EP

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  • This is My My’s fourth release, following on the heels of an amazing twelve months worth of 12”s on Playhouse including the deranged glitch-funk of ‘Klatta’ and the monkeys-with-typewriters rhythmic randomness of ‘Serpentine’. More recently with ‘Swiss on Rye’ they’ve shown an equally impressive facility with dreamy melody and jazzy improvisation. This release moves even further away from frenetic dancefloors and towards lazy beach parties (a bit of a trend this year, that is). As a huge fan of My My’s earlier work I was a little disappointed in the title track. ‘Klatta’ and ‘Serpentine’ both felt utterly mold-breaking and different to any of the current wave of dance music. ‘Butterflies and Zebras’ on the other hand feels identifiably part of a genre. I’m not too sure what genre that is – something that takes in Wolfgang Voigt’s Gas project (in its dancier moments) and Oliver Lieb’s ‘Java’ from the early nineties? The track has a slow deep rolling bassline and wandering pads over a strong 4/4 rhythm but it doesn’t really go anywhere and leaves little trace of its passing when its done getting there. It’s a pleasant enough exercise in chill-out house but I’d prefer them to go back to the spastic rhythms they’re so good at on their upcoming album. There is also John Dahlback doing his thing on a remix. If you enjoy the John Dahlback thing you’ll probably like this, but I suspect I’m not alone in thinking that he could do with releasing a little less and spending a little more time crafting quality tracks that actually sound different from one another. Fantastic biting snare sound though. People will dance to it. The stand-out track here is ‘Moneybowl’. Tropical coos and twitters adorn an itchy funky base of stuttered snares and syncopated toms. Halfway in they throw in a glorious sixteen bars of sharp and pointed prime-time synths that force their way into your brain like a pair of knitting needles. Simple and effective. Overall this is one of the more varied 12”s you’re likely to hear this year, both in terms of style and quality.
RA