Ambient beatmaker yuk plays Low End Theory, premieres exclusive MP3
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Little is known about yuk. He’s one of the linchpins of the Dublab- and Low End Theory-affiliated My Hollow Drum collective. His Myspace page is private and biographical information is scarce. All that is commonly known is that he is 24 years old and his display name reads “Finger Painting Maestro.”
It’s an accurate phrase to describe the wild and discrete splashes of color that define “a d w a,” his full-length debut that dropped Tuesday on matthewdavid’s Leaving Records imprint.
The album proves to be as inscrutable as its name, a gauzy drift through weird spaces cackling with found sounds and beautiful rain-washes of synths, and gentle drums. It’s the funkier Beat Scene equivalent of a forest sleep soundtrack that you’d buy at the Sharper Image (R.I.P.).
His partial anonymity manifests itself in his understated and undulating music. The artist’s Leaving Records press kit claims that he “explores the misty juncture of beat and melody like a heart-of-darkness jungle cruise.” (It’s an understandable analogy considering his Costa Mesa base is so close to Disneyland.)
The mixture of ambient and beat music places his sound close to label founder David, PPM sound-collagists Infinite Body and the experimental ambient beat-slap of Flying Lotus’ “L.A. EP 3 X.”
Celebrating his album release Wednesday night with a performance at the Low End Theory (along with Tokimonsta), yuk is premiering “emilia reflection” at Pop & Hiss -- a serene and sylvan track fit for forest dwellers and those that wish they were.
Download:
MP3: yuk.-”emilia reflection”
-- Jeff Weiss