- Iglooghost is the alias of Irish producer Seamus Mallagh, who started releasing music when he was 17. Most of his stuff, tagged "cereal hop" on SoundCloud, brims with the exuberance and irreverence of someone raised in the internet era. There are generally at least five things happening in his tracks at any given point, all usually hyperactive and pitched-up. His earlier work was more day-glo hip-hop—think Madlib crossed with Slugabed—but lately he's been on a footwork-inspired frenzy. This influence shines through like a blinding fluorescent light on Chinese Nü Yr, his Brainfeeder debut.
The first few listens of Chinese Nü Yr can storm right by you. "Xiangjiao" opens the EP with a blast of itchy footwork—but instead of, say, the Teklife crew's funk and hip-hop samples, Mallagh uses mush-mouthed vocals and trance textures, evoking the like of Noumenal Loom or PC Music. The same is true of "Mametchi / Usohachi," a speedy chop-up featuring childlike vocals that recall SOPHIE's "Hard." As it repeatedly shifts gears between hip-hop and uptempo, the song segues into MC Mr. Yote's rap outro before you realize what's happening.
"Peach Rift," the EP's longest track at five-plus minutes, is where things really get dense. It's like a Rubik's Cube of heavy basslines, chirpy synths and chattering vocals that never quite line up, which can be numbing by the end. Only "Gold Coat" steps back from the high-octane thrills, and it's the EP's low point. Mallagh's strength comes from deftly juggling ideas, so "Gold Coat"'s dubstep-tempo diversion feels like a regression. Otherwise, Chinese Nü Yr is befitting of a debut on a label like Brainfeeder: it sees Mallagh building on his hip-hop foundations in idiosyncratic ways, much in the vein of his best label mates.
Tracklist01. Xiangjiao
02. Mametchi / Usohachi feat. Mr. Yote
03. Gold Coat feat. Cuushe
04. Peach Rift