Sydney-born hiphop producer / turntablist Mickey Morphingaz has certainly spent an extended period living overseas, in fact this debut six track EP “Me…U’ was constructed in various studios throughout the UK and Europe, with Berlin-based Kitty-Yo alumni Mocky and Taylor Savvy contributing instrumentation and production to a number of tracks here. Intended to work as “a call to the outback†(a thematic concern reflected in track titles like “Emu’ and “Flaming Galah’), the six tracks collected here show Morphingaz fashioning a stripped-back, almost ramshackle slant on instrumental hiphop that clearly isn’ too worried about taking itself seriously. “Hey Mickey’ opens proceedings on a typically eccentric tip, with chirping turntablist flares and low-slung, clicking hiphop breaks leading straight into a snare-driven breakdown that cheekily samples the Toni Basil eighties hit of the title, but while it’s certainly a perfectly servicable slice of leftfield downbeatery, there’ a slight sense of meandering lack of direction, a factor not aided by the ultra-cliched porn moan samples.
“Emu’ fares far better, fusing slightly unsettling broken syllables and scratched, unintelligible utterances with a ominous backdrop of clattering hiphop snares and eerie, off-key keyboards, before “Platterpussy’ sees Kevin Blechdom contributing backing vocals to perhaps this EP’ most downright odd moment, with child-like recorder tones and chunky MPC-punched beats colliding with Morphingaz’ own half-sung/half-spoken vocals, resulting in something that’s seemingly part beatdown, part nursery rhyme. “Cool’ meanwhile sees smoky jazz horn samples merging with subtly-deployed scratches and rattling percussion in what’s easily one of the smoothest moments on offer here, before “Flaming Galah’ drops things straight down into twinkling soul keys, snatches of warm bass groove and minimalist hi-hats, Morphingaz’ own distant backing vocal merging with disembodied hiphop samples and plenty of turntablist cuts. While there’ the sense that some of the tracks here are still sketches in progress, “Me…U’ contains more than its fair share of inspired moments, marking Morphingaz out as someone to keep an eye on.
