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Electronic duo Tarsius releases sophomore album, ‘Culture Cow’

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Rick Olivares

<div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/07/17/20220717-tarsius-album.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/07/17/tarsius-album-cover_thumb-(1).jpg"/></div></div><div class="media-content slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><p>Electronic duo Tarsius is made up of Diego Mapa (left) on samplers and Jay Gapasin on drums. <cite>Courtesy of Randolph Torres</cite></p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>This July 29, Tarsius will officially make “Culture Cow” available on limited edition colored vinyl with a launch party at the 123 Block in Pasig. <cite>Handout</cite></p></div></div></div><p><br/>Tarsius – that electronic duo of Diego Mapa on samplers and Jay Gapasin on drums – has just released their second album titled, “Culture Cow”.<br/> <br/>“Culture Cow” follows their successful debut album, “Primate”, that was released 10 years ago, and their extended play single, “Igado”, in 2017. <br/> <br/>Tarsius took a different approach to recording “Culture Cow”.<br/> <br/>“We are an electronic band with live drums. When we make music, the usual process is we record Jay’s acoustic drums over the tracks to add more organic punch,” shared Mapa.<br/> <br/>“For this album, I prepared various click tracks in various BPMs (beats per minute). We recorded Jay making acoustic drum loops and full song patterns on these click tracks with hardly any music on them. Just guides. We erased the guides and embellished the drum tracks with instruments.<br/> <br/>“So ‘Culture Cow’ was made in reverse with the drum tracks leading the song arrangements.”<br/> <br/>The duo began working on this album in 2019 and finished it in 2020 with the initial release on digital and streaming platforms. <br/> <br/>This July 29, Tarsius will officially make “Culture Cow” available on limited edition colored vinyl with a launch party at the 123 Block in Pasig. <br/> <br/>“This is the official release because it’s only now that this year where live shows have opened and we get to perform these songs,” remarked Mapa. <br/> <br/>Vinyl has been an integral part of Tarsius since their inception. Both “Primate” and “Igado” were also released on vinyl and have since sold out, making both records rather hard to find and desirable among electronic and OPM fans. <br/> <br/>“When we were making ‘Culture Cow’, we always had it in mind that it would be a vinyl release,” Mapa added. “We limited the tracks to eight so that there will be four tracks per side. In addition to that, the pandemic created new vinyl collectors because they went crazy doing online digging. Now, music fans can finally own a physical copy.” <br/> <br/>Released under Body Clock Records, “Culture Cow” is on purple vinyl. <br/> <br/>“When we started playing again, we noticed that there were new kids in the clubs who I believe were not yet going out before the lockdown. After being deprived during the lockdown, their checking out live music is their comeback. That’s where Tarsius is when it comes to introducing our music to a new audience.” <br/> <br/>The lead single off the album is the funky “Agos” that clocks in at seven minutes and eight seconds. The instrumental has this 70s Euro-disco vibe that will remind one of Lipps Inc.’s “Funky Town.”<br/> <br/>“Star Island” featuring vocals by Evee Simon of July XIV and Spacedog Spacecat, is a that ends the album on a dreamy note.<br/> <br/>Other key tracks are “Carburator” and “Gumamela.”<br/> <br/>The odd title for the album came about when Mapa and Gapasin had this long discussion about food. <br/> <br/>“We had this discussion about food and went on about cultured meat and cultured cows,” related Mapa. “We loved the comparison to our music. ‘Culture Cow’ is an abstract rewording of cultured cows.”<br/> <br/>And so is the new music from Tarsius — written and cultured through the past several years, and released today, for discriminating music lovers.</p>

Tarsius – that electronic duo of Diego Mapa on samplers and Jay Gapasin on drums – has just released their second album titled, ‘Culture Cow.’