Based out of Boston, Massachusetts, wowflower is a young beatmaker with an exceptional talent for melody and atmosphere. He creates vibratory fields full of colorful static backed by fuzzy, textured percussion. Wowflower works with multiple tempos, and his boom bap cuts, though rare, are spectacular. Usually, though, he’s rocking with a slow, hypnotic nod that pairs well with spacious and ambient melodic stylings.

His output is almost obscene. At 22 years old he’s released 14 albums and a pair of mixes. It’s likely that most of that is hardly touched upon in our curated playlist, which features compositions from the past 18 months or so. According to an interview he gave with Japanese blog Vinyl Mafia (“for the beatmakers”), Kyle James Torr-Brown (wowflower) first began “tinkering” on Garageband at the age of nine. His latest “EP”, Tundra Noir, with a killer title and a 30-minute run time, is masterful. The release is cleverly named because it is indeed veiled in shadow, not full darkness, but in shadow in the vein of noir aesthetics. The textures and yearning notes conjure images of a sun-stained, cold white plain. For a great example of his boom bap beats, pay attention at the 19:15 mark.

As we touched upon with last week’s feature on dwyer, there is a growing emphasis on texture in beatmaking. Wowflower displays an exceptional ability for applying texture and contour to his compositions. One can hear this right from the jump in this week’s playlist with “Sunlight Wake” off Musings Vol. 1 a boutique compilation and the first from Dead Gorgeous Records. Just listen to those drums. Wowflower told Vinyl Mafia he’d like to become a pianist or a film maker. It appears to us that he’s already splitting the difference between these two occupations by creating these absolutely moving cinematic beats.

FOLLOW wowflower: Spotify / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook