There’s not a lot of information floating around about the artist known as Castle, but it is known that he is responsible for the artwork on Has-Lo’s In Case I Don’t Make It. As it turns out, he’s also a very talented musician. He has announced that he’s taking an indefinite leave from making music, but not before leaving everybody with a couple of releases. Cyberpunk is a short collection of instrumental songs.

Cyberpunk is an interesting mix of the soulful down tempo beats that someone like Dilla came up with, and the 8-bit music (early video game scores) that someone like Flying Lotus or Dan Deacon does. It’s an interesting juxtaposition and it works really well here. I have to credit Castle’s ability to feel a groove, to lay down some drums and a bass line that demands you to bob your head. He also has a good understanding of what makes a compelling instrumental record - establishing motifs, building variations around them, and creating different atmospheres. When everything comes together, it’s really good. The use of 8-bit video game music might seem novel at first, but over the course of the EP, it provides great tension between the cold pinched electronic music generated for Nintendo and the warmness that comes from Castle’s work on the drums and keyboards. The balance that Castle finds on this EP is just right.

I wish I knew more about Castle. Judging from the music on this release, there’s definitely some interesting and intelligent artistic expression at work. If he’s walking away from music for personal reasons, that’s fine. I just hope he comes back to it sooner rather than later.