Nikki Nair & DJ ADHD - Golden Monkey EP

What inspires two artists to collaborate? Friendship, mutual respect for each other’s work, a shared affinity for certain sounds, having a free day in the tour schedule and nothing better to do… the possibilities are pretty much endless, but in the case of Nikki Nair and DJ ADHD, their collaboration is primarily rooted in something totally unique: the use of a particular vintage Sony broadcast mixer.

In truth, Nikki Nair has been using this mixer for years, and once he heard that DJ ADHD had bought the same one—on Nikki’s recommendation—he happily hopped on a plane so that the two could jump into the studio. Following joint sessions in Los Angeles and London, the pair had a proper EP on their hands: a blistering, rave-ready beast called Golden Monkey.

Taking its name from the golden snub-nosed monkey—Nikki was mildly obsessed with watching the animal on YouTube when these tracks were being made—the record has a similarly untamed spirit. Dedicated to the dancefloor but completely untethered to traditional notions of genre, the music enthusiastically pulls from grime, jungle, techno, hardcore, footwork and other less-defined areas of the bass continuum, its chest-rattling thumps and fast-flying percussion offering a concentrated dose of instant energy. On “Whaa,” that effort also gets a full-throated assist from London MC Logan. The four tracks on Golden Monkey go by in a bit of a blur—meditative it is not—but getting your brain scrambled rarely feels this invigorating.