Live Review: Ostra 'Won't Do / Zu-Zumba' EP

A quick online search of OSTRA will reap little more than the Wikipedia page of a small Italian commune, and hundreds of images of oysters. If I was a particularly clever writer I might find ways to link these to the Los Angeleno electronic producer of the same name.

As far as I can tell, though, there are little to no points of crossover. 'Won't Do', the first track off of his new EP, is more bubblegum than shellfish; the second track, 'Zu-Zumba', more Spanish than Italiano. Notwithstanding this missed opportunity at smug wittiness, let us proceed.

If it wasn't quite clear from the brief above description, these two tracks by OSTRA are worlds apart. 'Won't Do' is rich and sweet with incredibly lush, poppy production. Giddy, helium-drunk chipmunk vocals bounce airily over some seriously synth-heavy sounds, making for a cranked up, video-game vibe. Sprinting on for a solid five and a half minutes, these are probably the kind of beats that Sonic the Hedgehog listens to whilst charging through Green Hill Zone. It also channels the synth-y, sunny vibes of other electro-pop men-of-the-moment like WAVE RACER, YOUNG FRANCO and COSMO'S MIDNIGHT.

'Zu-Zumba' is a little more left of centre, but with no less energy. Here OSTRA taps into the as of yet untapped genre of something like 'flamenco-house': Spanish guitar frenzies and fevered handclaps snapping their way into wubbing, dubstepping hip-hop beats and back again. This could well be the beginning of something. 'Zu-Zumba' has all the sangria-drunk, sunburnt vibes of a bullfight rave; the kind of sweaty, latin beats that could genuinely see zumba dance taking the clubs by storm, creating a generation of history's fittest pill-heads.

Yes, it is just as exciting as it sounds—much nicer than eating oysters in Italy. Get it into your ears.

Words by Gavin Butler

LISTEN TO MORE NEW MUSIC HERE

SEE ALSO:

LISTEN: COSMO'S MIDNIGHT 'THE DOFFLIN' (WAVE RACER REMIX)

LISTEN: KILTER 'HOLD ME' FT. YOUTH (YOUNG FRANCO REMIX)