Review - New Optimism - Amazon To LeFrak

New Optimism - Amazon To LeFrak (Phantom Limb)

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Review by Mikey.

Summer is in full flow and sailing in with that flow comes the neon dream that is the multi-talented instrumentalist Miho Hatori. Her newest project, New Optimism and the new release, Amazon To LeFrak, has put the EP firmly and colourfully back into the word epic.

From her days working at Flash Disc Ranch to founding Cibo Matto with Yuka Honda, she has set gloriously constructed paths through the musical Universe. She has not only collaborated with the likes of Smokey Hormel, Beastie Boys, Gorillaz and Handsome Boy Modelling School, she has taken the ingredients she collected with them and created a dish of pure sonic genius.

The EP kicks off with the deep percussive jungle beats of Dr My-Ho, the bass tones and rich vocals start to draw us into a cartoon World. It is no accident that she has been the voice of Gorillaz' guitarist Noodle. She IS Noodle. 

Dropping out of the city sky on its own private helicopter, Jet Setters has all the makings of club classic. The driving rolling drum beats and looping lyrics will keep you hooked for the whole summer and beyond.

Skip to King Of Monsters and you could easily be skating through downtown Tokyo or New York. This is where urban trip-hop pumps, street vendors call, neon signs fizz and Shibuya-kei filters through the haze. Miho has taken us on many interesting journeys throughout her musical career and this EP feels like we have arrived on a completely different planet.

I often imagine that my life has somehow turned into a cartoon, where we have the freedom to build a beautiful and crazy World where anything is possible and all of the usual creative boundaries that hold us back just seem to drop away. Miho Hatori has managed this with Amazon To LeFrak. If my life was a cartoon, I would want this to be its soundtrack.

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