Even in 2013, it’s hard to argue with a good break. Cleveland native Josh Hastings (a.k.a. RUMTUM) seems to agree with that production philosophy, basing “Ritz Bitz”—a cut from his forthcoming Mystic Wonders LP—on a compressed-to-all-hell, midtempo drum loop, on top of which he layers a set of impossibly funky chords, bubbling arpeggios, and loads of crisp percussion. The combination yields a track that has just enough boom-bap to keep the beatheads happy and just enough psychedelic weirdness to make it an easy choice to accompany one’s afternoon smoke session—all of which boasts well for RUMTUM’s soon-to-drop album, out later this month via 1320.

Ritz Bitz