Puma & The Dolphin (WTF IS SWAG, 2015)

Published December, 2015
by Easterndaze

Puma & The Dolphin at first may sound a little strange. The combination of these two very different animals has become the name of the new project by the Bulgarian producer Nikko Names, known for his beat-driven duo 1000names associated with Project Mooncircle. “This is my first solo release. It started like a wordplay, when I think about ouma and the dolphin, it’s like two worlds unaware of each other”  

Nikko Names has just released a remarkable debut solo album on the Sofia-based label WTF Is Swag. Small Things steers clear of any stylistic boundaries. The sound in some ways is retro and nostalgic, yet it still manages to stay timeless, with influences ranging from Detroit techno, New York postpunk to psychedelic disco and vibes from Bulgarian funk. It is as if ESG met up with Derrick May by the Black Sea, sipping cocktails at a sun-soaked late afternoon beach in Varna. “I’m trying to mix dance music with beats, pop, leftfield dance, psychedelic disco and try to mix that somehow also with African rhythms. There are also tropical moods, this is the dolphin part,” he told us in our Radio Wave show.