C.O.W. 牛: C.O.W. 牛EP

C.O.W. 牛 is a group of producers who wish to remain anonymous “because it’s necessary”. All we’re allowed to know about this collective is that its made up of four members from China and Germany. Since emerging in 2016, the group has released two EPs and their stylistically distinct music videos and live performances have earned them a reputation for being eccentric and bold. The record we look at today, C.O.W. 牛’s self-titled debut EP, puts these qualities forward in a bright and lavish display.

The music of C.O.W. 牛 revolves, more than anything else, around synthesis and fusion – of the old and traditional with the new, of the sounds of East Asia and the West. When the group isn’t splicing old jazz tunes into trap beats, they are busy laying distinctly East Asian melodies over thumping dance rhythms and blaring basslines. As it continually morphs touching upon more and more genres and styles as it progresses, the group’s music comes off as a bright, neon blur of diversely-influenced EDM. Each track is awash with airy waves of glittering synths while the rhythm makes use of bass-heavy, drum-machines beats; the mix as a result ends up feeling both groovy and weightless at once. It isn’t hard to imagine the music of C.O.W. 牛 being played years from now at a club somewhere in a hyper-futuristic Chinese metropolis. If you’re in search of slick, futuristic dance bangers, look no further.