Layton Wu 雷頓狗 / Summertime Mixtape (卡帶)

雷頓狗，台灣九零後男孩，未成年時即師承台灣著名迷幻吉他手，一頭鑽進 80 年代的英國花草搖滾中，連雙頰都長出 Morrisey 的酒窩。經歷了學生時期的瞪鞋歲月，雷頓狗開始在夢中見到 Prince 透過紫色的蚊香煙霧裡對他說「聆聽靈魂的節奏」、「尋找紫色的香蕉」。如此不羈的態度像是過激的成年禮，雷頓狗握緊掌中的肉球，決意效法 Prince 一手打造自己的靈魂樂。

為了喚起體內的美式 Jazz、Soul、Boogie、 RnB、Hip-Hop，雷頓狗在台灣 Beatmakers - Sonia Calico、秋波、錐頭、rgry 啟發下，開始創作 Instrumental Beats 和臥室音樂，迅速發行兩張 Beat Tape，單曲也陸續收錄於台灣電子廠牌 UnderU、派樂黛、中國 Babel Records 及德國 Tokyo Dawn Records 的合輯中。

音樂像飛盤一樣，狂奔的雷頓狗在越來越多地方留下掌印，自 2018 年起多次和 9m88 合作擔任編曲與製作人外，也與「舉牌小人之父」李翰及秋伯樂共同製作《快樂跨下》專輯。一回神，雷頓狗已身在芝加哥，在滿天飛旋的黑膠和 CD 中，構築起跨越城市的 City Pop。

雷頓原是一隻旅居美國的台北米克斯之名，以 DNA 刻寫著著不斷吸收融合的過程，展露出最獨特的樣貌。來自台北的雷頓狗，此刻正創作出屬於自己的米克斯音樂。2020 年首張個人 Mixtape「Summertime」 由落日飛車經營的夕陽音樂發行。

Born in Taiwan in early 90’s, Layton Wu learned his guitar chops from a local renowned psychedelic rock guitarist when the beers in 7-11 are still illegal to him. Inevitably, The Smiths became his favorite band and his dimples uncannily Morrisey-ish. Later on, as all the college students in Taipei, he had gazed at his shoes in pubs and venues, but deep in his sub-tropical dream the voice of Prince through a dense purple haze of smoldering mosquito coil kept getting loud and clear, saying ‘listen to the rhythm of your soul’ and ‘look for the purple banana.’

To summon the Soul music in his body, Layton with his coder mentality took the most methodical approach by immersing himself into the universe of beatmaking, digesting the groove and essence of Jazz, Soul, Boogie, RnB, and Hip-hop. By joining Beatmakers Taipei, he befriended fellow producers such as Sonia Calico, qiūbō, Conehead, rgry, etc.. After two self-released mixtapes, several singles were featured on Underu (Taipei), Babel Records (China) and Tokyo Dawn Records (Germany) compilations, and he has lent production talent to the likes of 9m88.

After moving to Chicago in 2018, the singer/songwriter and beatmaker/producer aspects of Layton have come together as a whole. His solo album ‘Summertime,’ released in 2020 by Sunset Rollercoaster’s label Sunset Music Production, is a mixtape of his early twenty works. Not unlike the early 80’s Japanese City Pop musicians, such as Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Taeko Onuki, etc,, Layton translates his roots and stories with the global musical languages he dives and swims in.

曲目:
A-side
01.Hello
02.Honey Ginger Tea feat.Jayhuana
03.Summertime
04.Midnight Dance
05.Summer Night Wind 夏夜晚風 

B-side
01.1988
02.We Just Feel the Night feat.hung-li & C3LL
03.Help yourself to get in love
04.Good Friend Song feat.Natasha
05.等春天 feat. Nicole 
06.oO Baby Baby Oo