Recent Illegal Art signee Deepak Mantena, stage name Junk Culture, strays from the overt sample stylings of labelmates Girl Talk and Steinski. These are not scrapbook lessons on the history of sampling or textbook mixes passed off as original songs. Junk Culture instead creates sound tapestries by mixing fractured vocals with pop hooks and samples, all run through a handheld recorder, giving his constructions a gritty, lo-fi, loop-based sound. Essentially, the title track “West Coast” sounds like Vocal Studies + Uprock Narrative Prefuse73 (before he got extra weird). We will reserve judgment on the album.
West Coast is out October 27 on Illegal Art. Another EP is scheduled to follow in spring 2010.
