Nalepa, Bass Science & The FMs [Native State]
When I look at this guy, the last thing that comes to mind is University Professor; however, to the contrary, Steve Nalepa teaches ‘Principles of Music Technology’ at Chapman University Conservatory of Music. He shows really talented classical musicians how to use ProTools, Ableton Live, Reason, etc.
To indulge his passion, he also makes his own beautiful audiovisual masterpieces, under the moniker ‘Nalepa’. On his own, he’s released a handful of tracks on various artists compilations:
‘Fresh’ on Left Coast Liquid Vol. 1 {Native State [2005]}; ‘Porcelain’ on Beneath The Surface {Native State [2006]}; ‘Pomme Granite Dub’ on Future Sound Theory {Celestial Dragon Records [2006]}; ‘Blue’ on Devil in the Detail {Interchill Records [2007]}; and ‘Flatlands’ on Visionair #53: SOUND {Visionaire [2007]}.
Thanks to some motivation from the awesome artist Bluetech [founder of Native State], we can look forward to all these tracks [as well as a handful of others] getting re-released later this summer as a full length album – ‘Flatlands’. On top of this, it comes with a DVD packed full of sexy fun times videos by Benton-C Bainbridge, Brian Kane, Brian Ziffer and Thomas Williams. Not enough? As an added bonus, this disk of goodness will feature remixes by The Glitch Mob, Ruxpin, Deru, (a)pendics.shuffle, David Last, RD, RaNDom, Slidecamp, Kero, Rena Jones, Kraddy, Aerostatic, Bluetech and the Nosaj Thing track we posted already!! For anyone into this music as much as I am, you are thinking ‘what an album’, and you are right!
Here’s an interesting side story while you regain your composure — while I was researching this article, I was told a very old friend of Steve’s came across tracks off my Nosaj Thing article that had been cross posted to pampelmoose, including the Nosaj remix of Flatlands. The mp3 was listed as ‘Nalepa’, and due to the relatively uncommon last name, he decided to check if it was the same Nalepa. Sure enough, it was… So there ya have it – downtempo.ca re-unites people!
Steve and his friend MattB [aka RaNDom] from Japan, have been bouncing incredibly wicked ideas back and forth over the ocean [man, I love the 'net]. Together they go by Bass Science. On December 7, 2007, they dropped their debut EP on Native State, ‘Transmissions from Planet Dub‘. This very unique blend of well produced glitchy-bass-heavy-electronic-dubstep will slam you like a typhoon, and before you even notice you’ll be drowning in lush layers of atmospherics and angelic symphonics. If you make it through that, you most likely will be smacked around by crisp drums and crushed by an immense bass weight. Look out for the Bass Science LP slaughtering heads across the nation, due to drop late 2008. Try ‘Imminent Threat’ on for size below.
On top of all this, Steve has been working with Justin Rickles [aka Brasswork Agency]. Justin’s portfolio is as impressive as Steves – a sound engineer, who’s worked with greats like Public Enemy and The Young Dubliners, releasing music on Plex Records, as well as the infamous Merck Records [a big favourite here at downtempo.ca, i love you Gabe!], and also putting out an upcoming release on LeftHouse Records. These Chicago-born, LA-based music/multimedia event producers combine powers to make the killer duo The FMs. Just recently they dropped Fabulous Morning Swim, also on Native State Records [you can buy it from Beatport]. The FMs reminds me a lot of early IDM, but with a more modern spin. The production skills of both of these talented individuals really shines through across the whole EP. I’ve had a very difficult time picking out my favourite track from this album because I like them all so much! So, I’ve chosen ‘Fancy Seeing You Here’ because it suits my current mood the best.
Nalepa – Porcelain
Nalepa – Flatlands
Nalepa – Pomme Granite Dub
Denmark’s Jonas Munk, aka Manual, first came to our attention with his mesmerising EP for the excellent Hobby Industries label. This debut Album for the increasingly devestating Morr Music label is sure to become regarded as a bit of a classic before too long…..there seems to be a bit of a buzz about this LP……people talking. Where Manual differs from the idm fraternity is with his accoustic front. The spine that runs through almost every track accross the 9 gems on offer is an organic one…..melodica, guitars, Piano. The beats and percussive arrangements come as a definite afterburn…..almost an afterthought. Comparisons are hard to conjur up with any degree of precision, but think of Kim Hiorthoy, Boards, Mum. In fact, the overwhelming essence of this LP is in its immaculate musicianship and songwriting displays…warm, but not sickly….melancholy…but uplifting. Recognisable, but new. Essential.
Edward Ma from Los Angeles is edIT. “Ed Ma’s first album as edIT features tracks that have been painstakingly sequenced, hiphop that takes glitchiness to the extreme. The style of the album takes cues from Prefuse 73, but taken to another level. Yet it is not really the tricky programming that really pops out at you – it’s the soulfulness and smoothness with which each track is glued together from extremely small snippets of sound. The opener features an electric piano first noodling then exploding into a shower of digital particles, it’s all put together with the ear of an expert artist. Guitars peek around the edge of many of the pieces, and there is homage to both underground beats and more g-oriented swissbeatz styles going on. Perhaps the album’s only shortcoming is its relentless pace of all things digital and beautiful, that can be almost too much to bear. Crying over pros for no reason is emotional, instrumental hiphop at its finest – looking forward with its digital edge but also beating with a warm analog heart.”
“It’s a busy life being John Tejada, a man who has graced some of the world’s most highly regarded independent labels with his signature presence — from the mighty Playhouse to Detroit’s 7th City and onto Ferox, Jazzanova, Plug Research, Scape and even Sub Pop — all the way to his own Palette recordings imprint. But it’s together with Japanese multi-instrumentalist Takeshi Nishimoto, however, that John has produced perhaps his most remarkable work — an acoustic overflow of ideas and post-rock configurations known as I’m Not a Gun — a project that has already delighted with a debut album for CCO entitled Everything at Once. For the last 5 years, almost without fail, John Tejada and Takeshi Nishimoto have swept aside their busy schedules every Wednesday to record material for their I’m Not a Gun project. John plays the drums, the guitar and his trusted laptop, while Takeshi completes the equation with his signature guitar and bass padding. Their music is not only a homage to the post-rock soundscaping that Chicago has become so well known for, it’s an advancement of its sound.