Dykehouse- Chainsmoking
7’
Ghostly
a version forthcoming on prefixmag.com

I put this 7-inch on the platter, gearing up for some so-called IDM, as Mike Dykehouse is known for such releases on electronic labels like Planet Mu. Rather than bleeps and squiggles, Chain Smoking was a perfect slice of dark, shoegazed psych pop. I heard a guitar line that faintly brought to mind My Bloody Valentine and some Creation Records releases from back in the day. A driving drum pattern anchors the whole bit, with intentionally naïve lyrics a la “Tear open the clear blue skies and put some life in your empty eyes.” What’s exciting about this 7’ is that an electronic artist can make such a significant crossover—and pull it off so well. The first tease of this came on Ghostly International’s excellent Idol tryouts compilation with his cover of the Wire’s “Map Ref,” and we will likely see much more of it on his forthcoming LP, Midrange, which has been temptingly described by Neptune Records as, “a thick and gorgeous pop swell that’ll put you back in Bush 1 era.”