Iglooghost

Irish producer Seamus Malliagh makes extremely giddy, hyperkinetic electronic music as Iglooghost, throwing juke/footwork, anime, IDM, hip-hop, and pop into a blender and hitting infinity. The restlessly creative artist's tracks are extremely dense, fast-moving, and cartoonish, loaded with complex beats, high-pitched voices, and rapid-fire samples. While this sounds like it could easily end up being a nauseating sugar rush, his tracks have an advanced pop sensibility and focus that keeps them both exciting and memorable, and they never come close to sounding predictable or conventional. Iglooghost first surfaced as a producer for underground rappers like Milo and Kool A.D. around 2013. In 2014, he released two limited cassettes, Treetunnels and Twenteen, which showcased his vivid, colorful take on abstract hip-hop beatmaking. Following 2015's Milk Empire, a collaboration with California rapper Mr. Yote, Iglooghost (who was only 18 at the time) signed to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label. His first release for the label was the digital EP Chinese Nü Yr, based on a video game-like story about a gelatinous, amorphous worm named Xiāngjiāo. Even though the release appeared on Brainfeeder, a label often associated with left-field hip-hop and jazz, its sound was a lot closer to the pop-influenced abstract electronic music released by labels like PC Music, Orange Milk, and Noumenal Loom. Neō Wax Bloom Iglooghost's second Brainfeeder release (and vinyl debut) was the 2016 EP Little Grids, which partially continued the story of Xiāngjiāo while introducing new characters, and included a guest appearance by singer Charlotte Day Wilson as well as a remix by Slugabed. Later in the year, Iglooghost remixed Abra's single "Crybaby." Neō Wax Bloom, Iglooghost's debut full-length, arrived in 2017, further expanding the concepts established on the previous two EPs.