Good Morning to you! You are reading the text of Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come around again for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! You’ve probably read the title of today’s track, and it looks pretty absurd, but this is a little EP release that I genuinely felt was pretty cool. My mother reads the blog every single day, and so this one’s also a not-so discreet nod and a wink at her, since we’ve been having a few little jokes about the ‘Godzilla’ franchise lately. She was very thrilled to see the latest one was added to Prime video. This one comes to you from the Taiwanese-American electronic house/EDM producer David Wang, who uses his own musical alias of Mochipet, which was based upon his long-term obsession with dinosaurs. As Mochipet, he has released music for several different labels – including Peace Off, Violent Turd and Death $ucker, and he is also the founder of the Daly City Records indie label. Wang’s latest EP, ‘Godzilla Resurgence’, was released in May as a tribute to his late father, who passed away as the project was nearing its completion. It is, of course, named after the mythical Kaiju who has starred in many films since the 1950’s. Proceeds are going towards his dad’s burial costs. Give it a Kaiju breath below.
“I saw my first ‘Godzilla’ movie when I was around 10 years old in Taiwan”, Wang told MixMag Asia late last year, later adding, “I actually didn’t like it at first. I didn’t understand why Godzilla was destroying Japan and I didn’t like that it was in black and white. It was not till later in my life, I began to appreciate Godzilla for its representation of human need for control and the Atomic Bomb that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki and destroyed many lives during World War II”, Wang spoke of how Godzilla’s symbol of death and destruction due to mankind’s quest for power has become an influence for his heavy blend of psychedelic EDM and no-nonsense ‘Brostep’ style of electronic production. On ‘Godzilla League Of Legends’, Wang really doesn’t pull back any of his skills for another day, and he instead mimics the fire-breathing giants of the EP’s namesake through the variety of weighty Bass sounds. The slower fade out at the beginning sets the tone for a cinematic affair, before the instrumentation comes in and displays a much more fiery side by putting the harsh distortion and the thick basslines into full throttle. The gears are changed slightly, in intervals, by a whimsical female backing vocal that goes for a little ethereality, and I felt this part of the equation was a nice touch since it was textured more gently than the core drum and bass melodies. The tune, in its entirety, is a solid evocation of Japanese manga animation series or action-heavy video game soundtracks, with a sonic palette that feels packed with rather aggressive melodies and it creates a very Animated feel to the heightened atmosphere overall. There’s plenty of tension found in the segmented decrease of the overall tempo, while the synths feel pretty playful at times. The drums feel smooth, and the long fade-out brings a cooling energy to the tune when it nears its conclusion. It may drag on just a little bit, but I rather enjoyed the unique style that it goes for and the subject matter feels pretty original, as this is not a single about typical topics like a break-up or a night out, and so it demands some attention to get the most out of. If you enjoy the heavier stuff, this one’s for you.
Pictured: Mochipet (aka David Wang) at a monster’s tea party (2019) (Photo via aaronswartzday.org)
That brings us to the end of the page for another day, and many thanks again for sticking with me until this point. If you’re looking for some exciting new releases to get a hold of tomorrow, please look no further than the blog as we delve into ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow. This week’s pick comes from a Dublin-formed indie folk band who will be performing at The Junction in Cambridge in October. They have been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize twice, and won the Choice Music prize in 2010.
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