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Michigan State University Student Radio

Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

Michigan State University Student Radio

Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

Michigan State University Student Radio

Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

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Maybes | Giraffage ft. Japanese Breakfast

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Charlie Yin, better known by his stage name Giraffage, hails from San Jose, California and specializes in R&B influenced electronic mixes, complete with wavy synths and tasteful hip-hop drum samples. His past two projects received attention from major music news publications, praising Giraffage’s impressive sample-influenced sound without the use of any actual samples. Giraffage’s discography, so far, perfectly complements a sunny cruise or beach trip, mixing poppy basslines and progressions with Blank Banshee-esque vocal modulations and production quirks.

“Maybes” enlists the high-pitched trill of Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) to flesh out the track’s quiet portions. The track fades in with tabletop drum beats followed by Zauner’s heavily delayed vocals.  The track’s fuzzy, laid-back flow places emphasis on every piano chord, slowly building with arpeggios and pre-recorded snaps. Just before the two minute mark, the track’s instrumental hook explodes with a distorted gliding synth and addition of a heavier drum kit before it falls back to earth and repeats the pattern all over again.

Zauner’s lyrics are intentionally difficult to parse through, placing the focus on pure rhythm and harmony. Giraffage possesses the rare ability to take human sounds, heavily modify and edit it, and come out the other end with a product that sounds more human than it did in the first place. It takes a lot of talent for a producer to demand so much attention with a few simple sound tweaks and re-purposes, and “Maybes,” along with the rest of his latest LP, Too Real, solidifies Giraffage’s spot as one of the most natural producers around.

Check out Giraffage’s Too Real in full below.

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