TUFF RUFF by MIKAEL SEIFU / DAWIT EKLUND

On "Tuff Ruff" the Ethiopian producer blends cultural vocals and swirling synths with a Masenqo lute, giving the track its worldly flair.The composition—a Seifu-described mix of Ethiopian folk and UK garage—doesn’t feel like a dance song; there's an ancestral vibe at work, something richer than the typical oontz oontz you’d hear in nightclubs. As a result, "Tuff Ruff" isn’t weird at all. Just approach it with an open mind. "Psycho Animus" is the work of a Virginia-born, D.C.-based producer named Dawit Eklund, and while it's his debut, it sure doesn't sound like it. The song's hollow bass synth and glowing organ tones recall classic deep house productions from Larry Heard and Pal Joey, while the hardscrabble drum machines and rubbery, twanging effects suggest the slightly haywire aesthetics of D.C.'s Future Times crew. It's a simple track, in many ways, revolving around a single pedal tone, but there's a wealth of detail in the margins, so much that it becomes hard to parse—jazzy hi-hats, flourishes of accordion, white-noise streaks of uncertain provenance. It's neither upbeat nor downcast, exactly, and much of its appeal lies in that state of ambivalence.