Some call it 8-bit pop, IDM or ambient. Pepepe says it looks like a nerd playing Solitaire, but might actually sound like a geek on another planet playing Space Invaders. Busily playing across Mexico (in Jalisco or Puebla), this University of Guadalaraja student and Barcelona participant’s compositions don’t lack any musicality: you might even find yourself singing along. With influences including the earliest electronic composers of the 1950s, Russian futurists, and the anarchic electronic madness of Kid 606, it’s no surprise Mexican institutions like Revista Marvin are already hip to what Pepepe calls ‘geekcore’.

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When it comes to collabs after the Academy, they put it to the tape like crazy glue. Luis Davis, participant from last years Toronto edition has been grafting to make ish happen, starting his own Mad Bros label. The first release is Faust's 'Hydraulic Slut' - a track recorded in Toronto by Ilari Larjosto and Jacob Korn. They must have made this beat on a ghost train, as each new section of this meandering groove stumbles into a spooky hall of mirrors, reflecting synth motifs back on each another like Medusa.

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