Ducked Ape is a Dutch duo we haven't come across until today, but perhaps we'll have to take a closer look into the two on the back of labelmate Ark Patrol's remix of their latest single, "In The Night (Shimmer)". The pair from the Netherlands certainly have an ace, alternative-electronic sound up their sleeve, but, as we've seen before a few times now, Hawaiian producer Ark Patrol has seemed to guide it masterfully into his trademark downtempo territories. To be sure, he's taken out the upbeat, pop-infused energy of the original and replaced it with a serene, sometimes-arpeggiating ballad of synths that flows organically through the underbelly of the track, and we hesitate to call the result anything but great. Cue the nonsensical music-blogger imagery here, but, they almost inspire comparison to a underground river in the way they rush under Tim and Sjoerd's (Ducked Ape) misty inflections that exist above them, and if that doesn't seem natural-sounding enough, wait until the vocals drop out. Ark has really taken care of the soundscape he's here constructed, and his delicately bolstering instrumentations and acute sampling have undoubtedly brought out the best of both tracks' worlds.
Ducked Ape