Ghostly International

Lusine - Twilight:

At the heart of Lusine's 2009 full-length A Certain Distance lies the song Twilight, a placid, vocal-led downtempo lullabye. If Two Dots, A Certain Distances luminous first single, was the albums knockout blow, Twilight is its victory lap—similar in scope and instrumentation but calmer in execution, its gently chugging drum programming and billowing puffs of Rhodes providing a weightless base for Vilja Larjostos voice, clear and knowing as ever. What do you know about the ancients? / What do you know about the future? Larjosto intones as the song walks on air, evoking an appropriately thoughtful mood to match the songs titular half-light.

The digital single of Twilight comes with three additional tracks. Lusine's Crowded Room (Type A) reworks A Certain Distance`s dancefloor standout by bringing its ringing synth tones to the forefront and filling the background with eerie vocoded mumblings. Lusines own re-edit of Twilight (as an Elliptical Mix) whips the original into a delirious late-night confection, all bleary textures and four-on-the-floor momentum; while Spectral Sound alumnus Jeff Samuel adds his own techno spin to Twilight, spraying a thin mist of Larjostos vocals over a field of percolating hi-hats and hand claps.

Shigeto - Is This All For Real:

From 2009's compilation "Ghostly International Presents Moodgadget".

Mux Mool - Lady Linda:

At first blush, Mux Mool's Lady Linda seems an unconventionally low-key choice as the first single from the hyperactive producer. Lady Linda (from Mux Mools debut full-length Skulltaste) doesnt come roaring out of the gates—rather, it takes its time, shifting from foot to foot like a trench-coated figure in an alley, clutching a bone-dry breakbeat with a pocket full of vintage keyboard tones. But as the track progresses, the underlying sophistication of Mux Mools homespun hip-hop begins to take hold and Lady Linda reveals herself, blossoming with lush Detroit strings and a melancholy melody. By contrast, B-side Hog Knuckles picks up the pace with a deft cut `n paste guitar riff and a blithely stuttering beat. Taken as a whole, then—a warm, sweet A-side and a tart B-side—Mux Mools first single may in fact be the perfect introduction to the multifaceted artist. As with all Muxs best work, the musics pleasures lurk just below the surface.
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