Penguin Child

Proper Songs releases 'Penguin Child', the debut album by San Diego beat producer Room E.

Over the course of the album's 14 tracks, the 26 year-old producer reaches across a broad swath of electronic music, ranging from ambient pop ('Polar Bear') to superhero drum n bass ('Migrate'), boogie ('Bed & Breakfast'), a sort of modified Afrobeat ('Ziptie'), West Coast hip hop ('Mimosa'), and restrained minimalism ('Penguin Child'), all within a thoughtful narrative framework.

The album continues on themes first presented with his 'Lanterns' EP, namely the use of an elegant, baroque tone within the context of contemporary beat music. Supplementing his background in sampling and sound manipulation, the producer has found a fondness for dilettante-style instrumentation, utilizing a variety of instruments including xylophone, pump organ, melodica, accordion, and electric bass, all played with the delighted curiosity of a crate digger.

The album, recorded mainly around the middle part of 2011, features live drums by Mike Hams (A Scribe Amidst the Lions, V Drago) on several tracks, whose contributions add a level of sophistication to the music uncommon in the electronic scene. Room E started making music about ten years ago, much like many of his peers, with a cracked copy of Fruity Loops on a very poorly constructed computer. Since then he has gone through several production phases, with turntables, MPCs, and various instruments. Shying away from any sort of purism, he has since found his way into a habit of inclusive composition, using whatever tools strike him as interesting on that particular day. Dusty samples are wrapped around bits of live piano, fed through guitar amps, and then married to xylophones, with bits of this and that artfully playing the background. Although most of his creations come from solitary studio time, he also feels a great affinity for the burgeoning 'beat scene' in Los Angeles, and worldwide.