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More from the department of local names going big places: Local art-electronic duo Protect-U already has one new EP out this month on the U.K.’s Vibrations Records, and coming in May is “Motorbike,” a recently announced 12-inch on reputable London label Planet Mu. Kind of a big deal, that: Planet Mu has a solid reputation for releasing weird, eclectic electronic music across a variety of subgenres, and it recently helped raise the profile of another artist with D.C. ties, Ital, the project of Black Eyes/Mi Ami/Sex Worker‘s Daniel Martin-McCormick (whom you may have spied in this Village Voice cover story).
Judging from the samples streaming online, these new Protect-U jams are in line with the duo’s woozy, atmospheric, disco-touched EDM, but they up the funkiness. When Protect-U last played U Street Music Hall, a friend remarked that the twitchy, elastic bassline in “Motorbike” would’ve worked just fine on the soundtrack to Donkey Kong Country. Yeah, pretty much.
Take a listen here. The duo—-which includes Mike Petillo and former Washington City Paper contributor Aaron Leitko—-hangs with the cultural class on April 21, when it performs at the Pink Line Projects-produced Cherry Blast party with fellow musical acts Miyazaki and Heavy Breathing, as well as a whole slew of sound and visual artists. 2235 Shannon Place SE. $10.