Ta-ku Enjoys Songs That "Make You Feel Young"

Whether it's for playing out at a club or listening at home, DJs and producers typically have an encyclopedic hoard of music, new and old. In The Last Record, they tell us about the last three songs or albums they've purchased, and why these were important additions to their music collection.

This week, we spoke with Regan Matthews, who performs as Ta-ku, during his stop in Chicago for his first U.S. tour. Matthews describes the tour as more of a movie than a live performance, due in large part to his collaboration with visual artist Sam Price.

His latest EP, (m)edian, features a number of firsts, including a collaboration with vocalist Wafia (who is also on tour with Matthews) and vocals by Matthews himself. "I think that's what you want to do as an artist," Matthews said. "You want to be put in those uncomfortable situations to see how far you can take it."

The last thing I downloaded was a remix of a song by James Vincent McMorrow. I initially heard it last night when we went to get tacos. It's a remix by Atu. I've worked with him before and he's one of my favorite artists. He remixed the song "Glacier." And it's probably one of the best things I've heard in a long time because when I heard it, I just had to Shazam it and I ended up playing it nonstop.

When I listen to it, I focus on his chord progressions and how delicate he is really makes it. He's probably one of the best piano producers, I reckon. Like Lido is like that too. He's just got so much soul with everything he writes. It's so much different than the original. It's crazy. Atu's always been one of my favorites and I love everything he releases.

I had it on replay and I'm kind of sick of it now. Just kidding. But you know when you listen to a song while you sleep and when you wake up it sounds different? I think I did that. But I still really dig it.

So it seems like whenever I'm on the road, I'm listening to the same things and I was listening to Foreign Exchange. They have a song called "Come Around." That song for me has always been my go-to song when I don't know what to put on my iPod. It's an old song, like 2003? But Foreign Exchange is between a producer named Nicolay and a rapper named Phonte. I don't know. There's just something about the song that makes me feel like I'm falling in love with music, which is a good feeling for me.

And the last one I purchased was a song a song called "Helios" by Darius. But that song is just super vibe-y. It's like my soundtrack for summer and when I was on my honeymoon in Asia. That's another one where there's just so much soul behind it. It's hard to describe, but if I hear a song and I get that feeling of complete soul and that producer has put their all into it, it just makes me kind of screw up my face and close my eyes. That's one of them. It's just got that vibe that makes you feel young, cause I'm getting old.