Photo Credit: Riya Hollings for MixMag

By Aaron Grech

Coming fresh off of his BBC Radio One Essential Mix of The Year award for 2016, Harry Agius, better known as Midland, will be performing at the CRSSD music festival in San Diego, California on March 5. Known for his diverse mixing technique?—?blending house, garage, techno, disco and UK pop, into his performances, Midland’s style creates a synchronized feel with a profound energy that make his both his track productions and live shows stand apart.

The London music producer first arrived on the scene in 2010 with a remix of Caribou’s “Sun,” and before long began ascending the ranks in his native UK with his early collaboration, and eventual friendship with the Aus Music record label. The first of these collaborations “Your Words Matter,” with Pearson Sound, characterized many of his early tracks, UK garage influenced house with a smooth and stripped down feel.

After an appearance on Boiler Room on behalf of Aus Music in 2012, Midland “Trace,” in 2013 which broke away from his earlier music. This techno infused track brought out a darker tone, with distorted vocals sampled from Andres’ “Hey Time To Go,” on top of an eclectic bass line, which are blended together seamlessly with dual techno and house inspired drum tracks. “Trace” eventually became Midland’s break-out track that year, as it played across numerous clubs in Europe.

Soon after the release of the Trace EP, however, Midland left Aus Music to begin his own record label Graded later that year. The label has gone on to feature artists such as Ryan Crosson, Catz N Dogz and Ben Pearce along with numerous releases from the label’s founder including hit tracks “Archive 01,” and “Drum Trak.”

Despite the continued success of his own music on the imprint, Midland, who is never satisfied creating paint-by-paint tracks, evolved his style once more with the release of his “Double Feature EP,” in 2015. This later departure from his music showcased the producer infusing strings and bongos to create a more disco and pop inspired sound on both of the tracks, “Double Feature,” and “Stop Don’t Let The Beat.”

While Midland continues to sporadically produce, releasing 6 tracks on the REGraded imprint in 2016,his live performances continues to amaze audiences across the world. During his break-out year in 2013, he made an appearance at the world-famous Space Ibiza along with a later appearance at the Lowlands 2013 Festival in the Netherlands. Alongside these, he currently holds regular spots at London’s Fabric night club, along with Amsterdam’s Truow, and achieved further notoriety at Space Ibiza for hosting hour long DJ sets from opening until closing in 2015.

While many upcoming DJs and producers would be satisfied with these spots and festival appearances, Midland’s career will develop even further as he continues to produce and DJ. His Essential Mix of the Year win in December and further festival bookings this year, showcase a bright career that has no intention of slowing down.

Low End Theory rumbled their 2nd annual festival on August 8th with their massive subwoofer system. They’ve been rumbling the LA music scene and beyond for the last couple of years. Low End heavyweights and newcomers shared two stages at the Shrine Expo Hall. They shook attendees with their beats and mesmerized them with their visuals.

        Residents were on full display: Daddy Kev, Daedelus, D-Styles, with Nocando mostly handling MC duties. There was also a batch of newcomers and those who’d made a name for themselves: Nosaj Thing, Teebs, Open Mike Eagle, and Flying Lotus of course. They were all on display, contributing their unique flavor of beats and rhymes to the Low End collective pot. Nosaj had a melancholy-like adventurous rhythm to his set while Daedelus followed with an awakening set of booming bass and string compositions accompanied by his animated performance. The energy just flowed from then on, with Gaslamp Killer creating a real-life image of what Charles Manson would look like if he were into dropping body-numbing beats. Thundercat brought a different animal, same beast type of energy with his set, slowing things down for his wild bassed-out jazz. Earl sliced through a set of heavy depression and angst, with the crowd responding properly to the slower tracks. Then the performer we’d all been waiting for, the one who gained a loud “wow” from the audience as soon as the curtain backdrop fell to reveal Lotus’ Performance Cube. Flying Lotus blended content from his You’re Dead! album with Kendrick Lamar tracks and a general collection of spastic, spaced-out sounds complemented by the hypnotic wave of visuals that he seemed to travel through. It was truly a sight to behold, one that wonderfully capped off the night.

        Low End didn’t grow out of already-present money or much established fame, but from persistent dedication and a belief in the sound coming from the Airliner every Wednesday night in L.A. Seeing Nocando and Gaslamp Killer interact between sets, delighted that their dreams were coming true, was a unique experience in itself. Also, seeing the numerous smaller acts that are making a name for themselves within the scene was also a unique experience. Having Open Mike Eagle, Jon Wayne, Milo, Samiam, and countless others make waves here and onto the future is what Low End has always been about. So until next years festival! We’ll see how Low End Theory will continue to shape the musical landscape one Wednesday at a time.

Chaz Bundick’s—the mastermind behind Toro Y Moi—musical output can be described as amorphic; he helped pioneer the chillwave genre in “Causers of This,” while channeling his inner dance music enthusiast through the side project Les Sins. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, at his album pre-release event, Bundick stated that he “wanted to make a pop album…because [he] really liked that kind of music with big studio-sounding synths and auto-tune,” because if it was “done tastefully and properly, it can be enjoyable.” “Anything In Return” neatly marries the hip hop funk beats of Toro Y Moi and the poppier sounds of Les Sins. Toro Y Moi’s production values have steadily increased with each successive album, and his ability as an arranger is evident in the new album’s beautifully retro-chic vibe.

“Anything In Return” kicks off with what is arguably its catchiest track: “Harm In Change.” It shies away from Toro Y Moi’s trademark syncopated rhythms that brought chillwave to popularity and instead opts for a steadier baseline accompanied by driving melodies and a palette of piano chords. Bundick’s airy vocals whisper over the rich instrumentals and finely-placed female vocal samples, creating a mellow yet groovy ambiance for the listener. “Say That,” another standout number, unites the best elements of past experiments. The rippling beat works busily behind arpeggiated harmonies in an endless head-bobbing sensation. Vocals take a backseat in this song, which accentuates the punchier bass as it takes center stage in this instant crowd pleaser.

The lyrics, “How’s it wrong / Where I want it / I’m only built to show,” pose a rhetorical question for listeners, as it asks them to search for weaknesses in the music in the album closer “How’s It Wrong.” Moreover, it reveals Bundick’s never ending quest to enhance his musical voice and perfect his passionate approach to composing enjoyable tunes.

Bundick presents 12 delightfully danceable tracks in a medley of club-friendly cadences and iconic synths that date back to his chillwave era. Toro Y Moi’s music is infectious, intricate and no doubt time consuming, and “Anything In Return” manages to underscore his aptitude for warm, inviting sounds despite taking a poppier approach.

Rating: 4.5 stars

-Neil Chua (Cloud Ground WED 7p-8p)