There are many good reasons why IJO is sometimes known as the Lithuanian Aphex Twin. His mastery of glitchy breakbeat annihilation has been well known in his home country for many years, and his below-the-radar releases on labels across europe are testament to his high level of perfectionism and international appeal. His live shows are an unpredictable mix of hard-hitting beats, mysterious keyboards, hands-in-the-air rave explosions and synthesizers ripped to shreds. But more important than his aggressive sound palette, IJO’s strongest link back to Aphex Twin is his neverending sense of tension and beauty. Despite his reclusive character, IJO’s first demo for us (Time Symphaty, LOW002) was instantly picked up by Mary Anne Hobbs at BBC Radio 1, so we are now proud to present to you his first solo release on Lowvibe.
Galla Shot
Now there’s no holding back, with a straight-up cut-up breakbeat assault from Lithuania’s master slicer IJO. The simplicity of the roots jungle vibe on this track covers an intricate framework of redesigned classic breaks. The constantly switching rhythm explosions are designed for only one purpose, to blow out candles standing 100 metres away from the sound system, while the deep sub bass vibrates through the ground all the way to the next town.
Ubikus
The perfect introduction to the complexity of IJO’s sound, Ubikus is simultaneously ambient, jungle, dubstep, glitch and chillout. Forget about classifying it, and allow your ears to explore the layers upon layers of sliced-up oldskool drum breaks, floating keys, sandpaper synths and infinite vocal stabs. As always on lowvibe, expect some seriously deep bass to scoop you off the floor and throw you to the back of the room. When you wake up, you won’t know if you just had a dream or a nightmare.
