Previously known as
tchan
,
DJ Girl
is the founder of
Eat Dis
, a netlabel centered around a grassroots community of forward-thinking electronic producers and DJs, presenting online broadcasts as well as in-person events. The label's output ranges from left-field techno to harsh noise, and their releases feel raw, spontaneous, and off-the-cuff, particularly the 2HR compilations, in which the label's artists are challenged to make a track using a specific group of samples in under two hours.
's own music mirrors the label's free-form aesthetic, incorporating juke, ghettotech, and jungle, while taking inspiration from earlier experimental electronic artists such as
Delia Derbyshire
and
the Residents
. As she relocated from Detroit to Chicago and eventually Austin, her music started attracting the attention of the dance music press, particularly with the 2021 release of two records,
The DJ Girl EP
SLSK Trax
. Her debut LP,
Hellworld
, arrives on
Planet Mu
, and it leans closer to Miami bass and electro influences than some of her other releases, yet it's brash and glitchy enough to feel right at home on a label known for championing footwork, IDM, and breakcore. Opener "Get Down" is a reckless collision of footwork and ballroom, with insistent kick drums and a torrent of vocal commands raining down on your skull.
Malick McFly
guests on two tracks of offbeat club rap, with the messy yet exhilarating "Gallery" being the more successful one. With its outsized laser zaps and robotic vocoders, "Technician" equally feels like a loving tribute to '80s electro as well as a cartoonish parody of it. "Lucky" is a harder form of electro with constantly mutating breakbeats, and "When U Touch Me" (featuring
Lighght
) is a more ecstatic track with staccato vocal samples shooting skyward. "Groover" is the album's most straightforward, DJ-friendly club cut, with booming kicks and percolating bass doing their duty in a highly effective manner.
feels like the most D.I.Y. effort
has released in some time, channeling the chaotic energy of Midwestern dance parties coordinated by a productive group of freaks united through a busy Discord server. ~ Paul Simpson