Art: Kikkujo
At the beginning
of December,
Helsinki producer Tomppabeats
released the full-length
follow-up to 2016's
Harbor LP.
The fresh sixteen track
Arcade LP
is a lo-fi beat journey
dancing in a lounge bar
full of video games,
dangling a cigarette.
Halfway through the project,
producer Ohwell stops by
and never leaves, assisting
with the back end
of the relaxed album.
This collaboration
makes Arcade feel like
two mini projects,
a formula the fits perfectly
for transferring to vinyl
and cassette. Even track eight,
the halfway point,
is a song with Rei Brown
known as “Goodbye.”
That lush track feels like
the end of chapter one.
Play it on repeat
for fifteen days
and be emotionally ready
to visit the second half
of this short and sweet album.
With most tracks clocking in
at under two minutes,
no instrumental stays around
for long, and the project
never bores or loses steam.
In fact, it's a moving forward
beast. Every time
I've heard it, I've always found
that it ends too quickly,
coming and going
with great speed.
This only convinces
myself rather quickly
to press play and start
the 24 minute journey
all over again,
one flip at a time.
