Yuki Kitano hails from Osaka Japan, where the skateboarding culture helped lead him to the genre of hip-hop and to his first experimentations with the MPC2000XL drum machine. Now creating beat tape and lo-fi sound as Nickelman, Kitano has picked up more than 15 years of experience as an electric artist and remains on track and on task.

Instrumental beats tend to be where Nickelman carves out his place, filling his extensive discography up with tracks which contain both cool vibes and a warm heart. While each release takes on a slightly different style, the mellow mood is consistent throughout, and although many of the artist’s tracks are instrumental, those incorporating vocals and found sound do so with careful consideration, making sure they complement the daydream synth and bring character to the song.

Coming up on the horizon as a follow up to 2019’s ‘Elements’ LP is a 12 track release set for August, titled ‘Butterwax’. It’s from this LP that our featured track ‘Fly’ is taken, an early introduction to the next major collection of beats. It’s what Nickelman does best, thick with soft beats and light with low tempo melodies, finished by vocals to furnish the sound with a touch of humanity.

Pre-order the album on cassette, vinyl or digital on Bandcamp or stream the single on Spotify

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