The Store Front keeps on growing and growing, boasting a robust set of releases. It’s crazy to think that we started off in September with 25 releases, mainly from our close friends. And now, we have 71 releases, all with their own appeal and revenues. The feel of downloading and owning your music feels a bit nostalgic too for me.
That said, here are my staff picks.
If I were to describe this EP with one word, it would be primordial. Xilang Bvdaya is Fahmi Mursyid. Coming from Bandung, this EP contains four tracks, with remixes from Tuja and Hxxmo. Full of brash sonic experimentation, Xilang Bvdaya proves to be one of the most exciting releases this year.
Admittedly short, we can only see pure Xilang Bvdaya on the first two tracks, but it showed enough promise and a full serving for any experimental listener to fall in love with both tracks. The remixes, of course, add some kind of slant to the EP, the Hxxmo remix especially.
If my previous pick is a brash sonic experimentation, Logic Lost’s “Hero Worhsip” proves to be another sonic experimentation, and a daring one at that, but it approaches itself with a more calm manner. A more depressing manner if you’d like. Logic Lost is Dylan Amirio, hailing from Jakarta. Dylan has released a few other releases prior to releasing “Hero Worship” back in August 2020.
This 10 tracks (Including one bonus track, an exclusive to The Store Front) sees Dylan progressing as an artist. There is more to this album that meets the eye. It’s certainly is a downward spiral and sounds almost glitchy at times, but it has distinct rhythms and some soundscapes that you just have to wonder: Where the fuck does this come from?
Twenty tracks of proper mixing and production? Accompanied by the best musical lines being written this year? Sign me up. Greybox is a New York/Jakarta-based producer. This double album, being released as recent as last month, still gives a good shock for its listeners.
Sure, it’s a heavy serving with twenty tracks in one serving, but it proves to be an effective way to show off Greybox’s prowess and knack for finding the catchiest sound imaginable with no filler whatsoever.
Maybe the first two picks in this staff pick aren’t for you, as both are electronic releases with a niche focus. But I believe the last pick (Greybox) and this pick is for everyone. Texpack’s long awaited album finally got released via Anoa, titled “Spin Your Wheels”. The first time I heard about Texpack, honestly, I wasn’t impressed. But as the years went on, their live performances and latest tracks (Some of them can be heard here) got better and better. It culminated in a murmur of an album to be released back in 2019. The album got released in 2020, but it was worth the wait.
The album packs in the best out of the band, combining catchy hooks and simple songwriting, a type of songwriting that can gel well with any instrumentation, especially some pop hook lines that can be heard here. The album justifies the wait and signals something even better in the future for the band, hopefully. In the meantime, “Spin Your Wheels” with its 12 tracks can introduce listeners, both new and old, to Texpack!
In this year of 2020, one of the few good news I can take in is the rise of Future Exp, a group of friends from Bandung that really brings the best music out there this year. One of them is VT-00, a catchy electronic act with an aggressive slant. Now, Future Exp and VT-00 brought five collaborators: Asam, Loreng, Xin Lie, Dony Manurung and Fuzzy, I in “Kolosal Remixes”. All eight tracks bring its own appeal, the remix by Loreng is a personal favorite with a really harsh remix that mesh well with the original song.
Honestly, VT-00 and Future Exp as a collective is the most exciting thing to happen in 2020. They have their own visual and sound style, a care-free attitude and a progressive output to match it.
At the time of writing, this album hasn’t been released yet. But it is up for pre order!
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VT-00 – Ultra Kolosal Total RemixesRp44.100 -
Xilang Bvdaya – Pencak XilatRp35.000 -
Logic Lost – Hero WorshipRp25.000 -
Texpack – Spin Your WheelsRp50.000 -
Greybox – MelografikRp120.000