Premiere: Premiere: Kino Todo – 9AM [Blue Shadow]

Blue Shadow Records build on the success of their first two releases with a fantastic third, this time from vital new talent Kino Todo, with an edit from acclaimed Israeli duo Red Axes.

Tel Aviv based artist Kino Todo is very much an exciting up-and-comer who is making moves fast. He has associations with Red Axes’s Garzen Records – both through his releases and his recordings for their radio show – and this new EP is a great window into his wonderfully weird world.

Kino Todo on his collaboration with Tesfit Asgodom: “I met Tesfit in February 2019, he is originally from Eritrea and he is a close family friend. We agreed that he will come to meet me in Tel Aviv and work with me on a track in his language, Tigrigna. In the weeks prior to our meeting I already had an idea and I started to prepare a layout/sketch of the beat. When Tesfit came, we went to the studio and at some point, the word “Gidafi” and some other words came up. We both liked it a lot. We wrote rhyming words in Hebrew until it was perfect and started to record. it was an amazing experience and the text has a lot of meaning for me. Everywhere the track was played, also amongst Eritreans, the reaction was very enthusiastic and people connected immediately to the lyrics and the music.”

First up is the excellent ‘Gidafi Na’ feat. Tesfit Asgodom: a truly original track that pairs live sounding drums with exotic percussion and an infectious, bouncy bassline. The whole thing is loose and speckled with Tesfit Asgodom’s indecipherable but hypnotic vocals and you can be assured it will be a standout in any set. The equally fresh ‘Timba’ feat. Kazuyo Shionoiri is built on more buoyant drums and rubbery bass, with a whistling lead synth sound and Kazuyo Shionoiri’s Japanese whispers adding more worldly exoticism.

The last original ‘9AM’, is the track we feature here today, a deeper track with sci-fi synths and freaky effects all detailing another fat groove. It is ‘Gidafi Na’ that gets the edit treatment from Red Axes, who are much loved for their freaky fusions of guitars, synths and the sounds of their homeland. Here they layer in more chattery percussion and subtly build the suspense to make for a riotously feel-good track.