shortcircles: between waves

Composed and performed on a hybrid digital/analog synth (Roland Juno 106) and the MPC, and textured with live instrumentation, Oakland-based musician Matt Tamarillo's (aka Shortcircles) debut full-length release is an impressive, lush electronic outing that recalls Boards Of Canada, Floating Points, and Gold Panda, while the beats are in a class with Teebs or Bonobo. It's a solid follow-up to the self-released Mapzzz EP from 2011. Featured on the record are the Bay Area's James & Evander, who lend to the layered, deconstructed, chill-wave result. Born and raised in Escondido, CA, enamored of hip-hop early on (Sadat X and early Common via AND1 mixtapes), and smitten by MF Doom in eighth grade, Matt Tamarillo has fused his early hip-hop influences with a knack for creating blissed-out bedroom productions. Inspired by Four Tet, Teebs, Floating Points and DJ Shadow, home-schooled in music by a huge library of vinyl accumulated in crate-digger fashion in San Francisco, the Shortcircles sound is hard to pinpoint. He describes it as a "peaceful sound." With that mindset, he set out to craft a full-length without having an outlet for it. When his friend Elephant & Castle heard the album he put Shortcircles in touch with his own label, Plug Research (Flying Lotus, Dntel), who promptly added him to the roster.