Shlohmo: Repulsor

"Since 2009, the Los Angeles-based producer has built instrumental arrangements out of tape hiss and grainy textures, gloomy synths and gristled percussion, crunchy guitar and hard-to-identify samples, constructing a world where hip-hop, slowcore, bass music, ambient, R&B, and pop meet in a murky, disorienting middle. He'd already established himself as a leader in the L.A. beat scene when, in 2012, he flipped Jeremih's " Fuck U All the Time" and found himself with an unexpected SoundCloud hit."

"The original version was all bubblegum and rosé, but in Shlohmo's hands it became dark and unnerving, a shift that morphed the song's meaning: What if telling someone you wanted to fuck them all the time wasn't a cheeky sext but a desperate, life-ruining confession? Though he's gone on to collaborate with plenty of rappers and R&B singers- Drake and Post Malone among them"

"His fourth studio album, Repulsor, is a bludgeoning listen, one that works hard to earn its fleeting moments of melodic bliss. Though still rooted in lo-fi, abstract hip-hop, Shlohmo tries his hand at death metal and digital shoegaze, splitting songs open with feral, distorted-to-hell drops that erupt with growling synths and guitars. These wall-of-noise centerpieces feel like new terrain for the 35-year-old musician, movements he'd been working up to since 2015's but which he unleashes here like a harrowing scream into a neverending void."

Henry Laufer performs as Shlohmo, producing pliable electronic music from tape hiss, grainy textures, gloomy synths, gristled percussion, crunchy guitar, and obscure samples. He merges hip-hop, slowcore, bass, ambient, R&B, and pop into murky, disorienting arrangements. A 2012 flip of Jeremih's track yielded a dark SoundCloud hit that reframed its lyrics as desperate rather than playful. He has collaborated with rappers and R&B singers like Drake and Post Malone but prefers working alone to craft ambitious, unruly beats. Repulsor expands his palette into death metal and digital shoegaze, using feral, distorted drops and wall-of-noise centerpieces.

Read at Pitchfork