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

Bass Science – Imminent Threat [Buy the EP]

The FMs – Fancy Seeing You Here [Buy the EP]

So, on that note, someone whose persistently kept the emails flowing – Ernest Gonzales aka Theory Of Everything, the man behind Exponential Records. He had originally sent me Exponential Presents: Collapsing Culture, but that was during my one year hiatus from blogging. So, although I did indeed listen to it, I never really worked up the motivation to write about it. Since then, he’s sent me all sorts of music, among other things. Most of it is really good, but I, being not only a very critical and picky listener, but also an avid deleter, ended up only keeping a few tunes. As it turns out, these all happened to be by A.M. Architect. Coincidence? Unlikely.

Like all of the musicians behind Exponential Records, A.M. Architect (Daniel Stanush & Diego Chavez) are from San Antonio, Texas. Currently, they are working on releasing an EP or LP through Exponential later this year. Their production style is awesome – all tracks are well mastered, and the content is always very jazzy, luscious, and melodic. It reminds me a lot of Aphilas, or Sofa Lofa.

Recently, Ernest let me know about Wait Till The Ice Melts, a various artists compilation due to drop sometime in March, ‘08 on Exponential. This time I listened to it front to back. And then I listened to it again, which is rare for me. Like I mentioned, I have a lot of music to go through, so something has to be pretty damm good for me to listen twice. The songs I felt really stood out the most were Ernest’s “Caviar, Cigarettes, Dynamite, & Laser Beams”, and of course, A.M. Architect’s “Upon”.

Check them out! I’ve also linked a handful of A.M. Architect tunes that aren’t on this compilation. Enjoy, and make sure to grab a copy of the compilation when it comes out in March.

Ernest Gonzales – Caviar, Cigarettes, Dynamite, & Laser Beams
A.M. Architect – Upon
A.M. Architect – Next of Kin
A.M. Architect – Sleepless Night
A.M. Architect – Unspoken