Food & Tunes

It’s rare that we find ourselves loving everything about an Artist.

Let’s face it, when you work in the music industry it’s easy to find things to criticize or dislike - it’s simply, the nature of the beast. Now we could tell you we think KASTLE, aka Pittsburgh native (he now calls San Fran home) Barrett Richards, is the one of the most brilliant producers we’ve heard, leave you with a link to his Soundcloud and let you do the rest… but why not prove to you why we actually believe the aforementioned statement to be true?

Some may throw the term “genius” around too freely, but when Richards was able to teach himself the guitar and piano before reaching his teens, you can see that we’re talking about a special talent here. Years djing in the Northeast rave scene coupled with an obsession for r&b and hip-hop has given birth to some of the freshest sounding tunes we’ve ever heard. 

Take this remix of JMSN’s Alone. As haunting as it is chilling, you’d be forgiven for thinking Diplo, The Weeknd and Disclosure were behind the wheels. Yet, it sounds unmistakably Kastle. That is, filtered r&b vocals (“sampling is considered an art form”), teamed with devilishly crisp beats and lush, soaring strings. Press play above, it won’t be the last time you do it, trust us.  

This effort is only bettered by, and perhaps the most definitive Kastle original to date, Stay Forever.    

I just want you close, where you can stay forever.

Words can’t describe how beautiful this track is. 100BPM bass goodness + a mysterious half-time beat + syncopated synths = fucking brilliance. You can listen to the full Stay Forever EP, released on Kastle’s own, and recently formed Symbols imprint, below. Be sure to check out other hot producers on the label like Cosmic Revenge and UK duo Maribou State. 

Now that’s enough jibber-jabber out of us.

Do yourself a favour and get involved with Kastle.

If you’re not convinced, you probably need your ears checked. And perhaps a slap across the face. And a long-hard look in the mirror probably wouldn’t go astray either.