I always assume that the main reason a lot of producers get into this game is to highlight the appreciation for the music they grew up on. That's not a constant; you have to explore and experiment, but there's something about producers and sounds that wear their influences on their sleeves that always gets me. Enter Lazerdisk, who recently dropped their free EP Mélange that bodes well for this line of thinking. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, this LA-based duo crafted a project that is "[a] marriage of past and present sounds embracing retro-futurism." They did a great job of incorporating '80s vibes, pop sounds, and more into their current cosmic soup. The EP's opener "Got The Love" (featuring Craig Mitchell) is a great weekend record, steeped in disco grooves and house aesthetic, but then you have the throwback appeal of The Knocks-featured "Crashing" to take things into a deeper zone. The funk on "I Think I Love You" might be my personal favorite, but really this EP is front-to-back splendid. And it's free.
