BULBZ

BULBZ is a three-song covers EP I made. It's released today on Moodgadget. It's kind of a teaser for my full-length, which will be released later in the summer. I covered Smokey Robinson, Kanye West, Radiohead and Prince.

You can choose your own price and download the EP here.

BULBZ is a brief vision of Top 40 in a parallel universe of blown speakers and circuit-bent taste - tuneful, danceable and soulfully sung by Daniel, formerly of Detroit-based Judah Johnson [Flameshovel].

BULBZ began as an experiment, an excuse for Daniel to teach himself the popular recording software Logic. It didn't take long for him to figure out ways to abuse its array of soft synths and powerful sound processors. The result is a three-song covers EP that is both the most electronic and accessible thing Daniel has ever done as well as the first time he has ever released any non-original music. "It's stupid that I've never put out any covers before," he says. "There are songs I've loved over the years that feel closer to my heart than my own."

"Cruise With Me," is a synth-soaked rendition of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" that begins over a stark 909 drum beat and ends in a cascading waterfall of Clark-inspired distortion. "Love Lockdown (Like Ripples)" is Daniel's fantasy of a reconciled Kanye West and Thom Yorke and mashes West's "Love Lockdown" with echoes of Radiohead's "Reckoner," two tracks that felt game-changing to Daniel when they were first released. "Does Not Compute" is the most faithful rendition of the three, staying close to the source of Prince's "Something in the Water" (1999) while amping its atonal keyboards and crushed drum programming up to the levels that have made it a favorite in Daniel's live sets.

Daniel will release his debut solo full-length, Lazrus, on Moodgadget later this summer.