DSB n Ike Okani is a Las Vegas-based electronic dance music project composed of DJ Donut Shop Boi (DSB) and DJ, record producer and songwriter Ike Okani. Wherever these two creatives decide to take their fans, they will follow. In fact when it comes to genre-blending, they’ve already been to the edge of the world and back. Or so it seems. Because their latest release, “Limerick Sky”, goes into yet another direction. DSB n Ike Okani’s ever-surprising and dynamically evolving ethos, this time takes us to a blend of EDM, and what sounds like authentic Irish traditional folk music. There is a strong sense of melody throughout, which, combined with the jangling stringed instruments and the steady four to the floor handclapping beat, often provides a quite striking contrast.
This is a surprisingly stunning record; 3 minutes of mesmerizing EDM-Traditional Folk that is both pleasingly disorientating and emotionally stirring. DSB n Ike Okani strikes a balance on “Limerick Sky” that was previously unimaginable.
A few years ago, the sadly departed Avicii took EDM towards Country music, and was certainly a pioneer in blending such disparate styles. Now DSB n Ike Okani take that hybrid theory a few steps further with this new single. Electronic music can sometimes be found wanting in this department, but DSB n Ike Okani has rarely struggled with such a problem.
“Limerick Sky” is a curious track inhabited by a truckload of organic sounding instruments – from banjos and ukuleles, to fiddles and harps – and somehow DSB n Ike Okani pull it off. It’s as though they know they have earned the right to do anything they want with their music. It’s weird and rather wonderful, which is essentially DJ Donut Shop Boi and Ike Okani in a nutshell.
With a melody line straight out of a charming music box, assailed repeatedly by a dance-inspired drumline, and mellifluous croon, it is hard to not be impressed by how each element interacts and reacts to another. In this masterful display of DSB n Ike Okani’s acute attention to detail, the resulting effect is one of enthusiasm and ecstasy.
DSB n Ike Okani seem to have found a comfortable groove in the current state of the music industry, resting atop a cloud of genre-blending and feeling content to release music that many listeners would consider groundbreaking.
On “Limerick Sky”, DSB n Ike Okani’s genre-bending techniques once again prove that electronic can be beautiful, playful and authentically creative. The new single is, somehow, both classic, old school and completely new and invigorated.
It is one of those rare works that feels unbounded by time. It could have existed 30 years ago, as it exists now. DJ Donut Shop Boi and Ike Okani are obviously clever dudes with a lot of pyrotechnical tricks up their sleeves.
If you’ve never given DSB n Ike Okani the time of day before, but are open to the idea of boundary-pushing electronic dance music that is able to communicate to mass audiences, despite playing by its own rules, then perhaps now is the time to dive in.
OFFICIAL LINKS: YOUTUBE – FACEBOOK – SOUNDCLOUD
