We all remember when Kanye flipped Can to make “Drunk & Hot Girls.” I would guess that globally we are at 50/50 awareness of Madonna’s “Hung Up” being an Abba sample. Flipping samples has become a ubiquitous part of modern music, but every now and then, a song can transcend the references from which it’s composed.
Dida’s “Dont Touch Crickets” does just that. It has bits of Petula Clark’s timeless “Downtown,” and yet the counter melody and vocoded lead are more reminiscent of Daft Punk’s “Verdis Quo” than “Downtown.” Dida’s pastiche explores the edge where a sample is more ambience than anecdote. “Downtown” is there, but the catchy part is Dida’s plea: “Please don’t touch me” set to an undeniably fresh melody. This track executes a sleight of hand—the familiar is presented to normalize something totally new. A huge amount of music lives in this track without ever being overwhelming or hard to follow. Dida is definitely a musician to keep your eyes on.