{review} DJ Boring & Stanley Schmidt - Stay Young
Out of the lo-fi crew, DJ Boring seems to be the one that is not content with playing to type, this is despite arguably defining a movement through his iconic 'Winona'. Recently he delivered a mix of wall to wall anthem house music for Crack Magazine, and is then to shift gears entirely as he heads up an I Love Acid event alongside Luca Lozano and John Heckle. Now, he inaugurates the Vienna Records imprint - alongside co-owner Stanley Schmidt of Rivulet Records fame - with a trio of uplifting breaks tracks.
The pair combine on the A-side track 'Stay Young', which is one that deserves to start a million mix tapes over the course of the year. It flips from dewy moments, most significantly in the elongated intro, into bass shaking drops and warehouse bleeps. The juxtaposition meshes perfectly, resulting in an emotional rollercoaster that will have you wanting to both stand still with a tear in the eye and drop shoulders for a shakedown on the floor.
Over on the flip, the B-side tracks see the producers take a spotlight each. DJ Boring continues in a whimsical nature on 'Butterfly Walk', bringing in a four to the floor kick and a piano riff that is bright, yet springtime delicate rather than summertime anthemic. Schmidt ups the tempo for a slice of frayed electro on 'I Neva Said It' that gives the release a little frown to finish.
Their future in their own hands, Vienna Records sets off on the right foot. With the lo-fi scene being accused of aesthetic first in the past, there is absolutely no evidence of that here. There is levity without ever resorting to dropping in nostalgic references that forcefully wink at you, nudging with pointed elbows. If anything, this is serious. Seriously good.
Stay Young is out now, pick up a copy from Lobster Records.
TRACKLIST
A1. DJ Boring & Stanley Schmidt - Stay Young
B1. DJ Boring - Butterfly Walk
B2. Stanley Schmidt - I Neva Said It
Discover more about DJ Boring, Stanley Schmidt and Vienna Records on Inverted Audio.
This review was written by myself and published on Inverted Audio on 29th March 2018.
The way you describe this record has me pumped. I look forward to check this out when I get home to my speakers later.
It's nice! I have a weird thing where I have an aversion to go check on someone just about everyone is talking about, and I swerved DJ Boring for a bit after Winona. I'm certainly coming round though.
Stay Young... I mean I made that comment in the review specifically because, as soon as I heard it, I thought "I'm starting a mix off with that". I'm in the mood for dreamy breaks at the moment.
Same thing happened to me with DJ Boring! I was like uh oh - people found out about him...gotta find someone new hahahaha.
I'll be honest I have no idea about Winona, my ears are only loosely connected to this world of true electronic music. I'm more of a hip-hop guy with some IDM in my back pocket. Your blog is helping me to boost my knowledge on this stuff now :-D
Yeah, a wave of artists came through - lofi house. Communities built up on YouTube. Winona was the big hit, over 3m views now I think. Usually dusty, pastel house music, saturated with tape hiss, a wry nostalgic sense of humour.
DJ Seinfeld, Ross From Friends and DJ Windows XP have also been doing fine stuff.
https://playmoss.com/en/simon-whight/playlist/spotlight-lofi-favourites
I don't mind it. I think it's pleasant enough, but there is so much hype around these guys and I'll be honest that I'm not totally buying it. I certainly am enjoying Stay Young more than Winona though, but based on listening to the Stanley Schmidt track alone, I'm guessing the energy of Stay Young is mainly coming from him.
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