Another favourite of mine, A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs’ Brooklyn-based Fool’s Gold imprint has been responsible for Danny Brown, LA Riots, Chromeo, Bag Raiders, RL Grime, Kavinsky, and Malente, among others. Somewhere in its eight years of establishment (though I suspect we can narrow it down to these last two), they also picked up Sleepy Tom, a Vancouverite, a DJ, and a “professional napper.”
Good luck falling asleep to his mixes – deep, massive... and bound to keep you “woke.” His latest is a two-song EP titled Jobless released Tuesday, the avec chant follow-up to debut EP, The Currency (2013). According to an interview with HypeTrak, “Jobless” and “Karaoke” are essentially “dumb vocals meets warehouse rave vibes.” I’m not quite certain what Juan Ton is saying on “Karaoke,” but the title track spins like a college students’ anthem, with its single, relentless lyric: “Don’t make me go to work.”
“Please don’t get his name confused. He’s not sleepy,” warned Diplo last autumn when Sleepy Tom was on his BBC Radio 1 show, Diplo & Friends. To our delight, Sleepy Tom has now announced a monthly “Pillowcast,” which at the moment has no foreseeable end. (Excellent.) Stream and download the first mix below.
Sleepy Tom will be turning up the Shine tomorrow night, and then swinging into the Prairies for Tail Creek Music Festival before heading back west for Squamish Music Fest. Seriously, watch out for this guy: he likes the new Die Antwoord album and he’s about to be a sleeper hit. Stay woke, eh?