Spazzkid – Desire (Purr Tapes)

Musical Content: Mark Redito took a year-long hiatus from music. Apparently he was really into biking. An artist has to do something for inspiration, and if that’s what you have to do to produce an album as solid as Desire, then so be it. The beauty of this album is its variety of influences. Redito doesn’t box himself into dubstep, chillwave or other techno variants. He embraces them all, distilling elements from each to create brilliant electronic pop songs.

There is a smattering of imperfection on some tracks, which comes across as intentional (in fact, Redito has said that his goal was to make sounds that were “warm, organic and imperfect”). There’s repetition, but not for lack of ideas. Most surprising, there are elements of 80s alternative music (the chorused guitars, reminiscent of Cocteau Twins, on “Kokeshi Doll,” or the dance pop of New Order on “Loving Free”). As a whole, Desire offers variety and lots of grooves. Perfect for the Summer of 2013.

Package and Sound Quality: The art design from Krystal Perez is alluring and modern. Tape labels are handpainted with watercolors. It’s a gorgeous package.

Unfortunately, the tape is sold out, both from Purr Tapes and Spazzkid’s site. Luckily, it’s still available for download from the latter.