Downtempo Canada » Glitch

Nosaj Thing [Unsigned / iTunes]

Dewey dB — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:15:15 +0000

Jason Chung aka Nosaj Thing has been catching a lot of peoples attention lately. The reason is obvious. People are starved for talented electronic musicians like this. When I first listened to Jason’s promo mixtape [recorded for dublab], my brain milk was leaking all over the desk …it was disgusting. Which brings me to an interesting question – at what point do words become completely ambiguous? The other day someone told me “yo, those shoes are rude!” and I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing.

Ok! Sorry about the attention deficit influenced random tangent – listen to the mix: Nosaj Thing Live On Dublab

After I cleaned up the brain-mess, I hunted down his EP, which you can buy at Turntable Lab, iTunes and through Paypal. The release sounds like a combination of Eliot Lipp, Daedelus, edIT, Ooah, Lorn & Flying Lotus, but still has a lot of its own unique character and style to it. As I regard this as one of those pieces of art that are just an amazing journey front to back, it has been difficult for me to pick out single tracks as being my favourites. -sigh-

This is the part where I do anyways:

Nosaj Thing – Heart Entire
Nosaj Thing – Distro

In the process of searching for that EP I discovered that he’s dropped a slew of remixes, some of which have even been contest winners! Surprised? Unlikely.

Daedelus-It’s Madness (Nosaj Thing Remix)
Nalepa – Flatlands (Nosaj Thing Remix)
Health-Tabloid Sores (Nosaj Thing Remix)
Plastic Little-More Tongue Less Teeth ft. MF Doom (Nosaj Thing Remix)
Scarub from Living Ledgends (?)
Eliot Lipp (?)

Jason is planning on dropping a split 7″ with Lorn, as well as a full length LP sometime in mid 2008! Word is he’s been working pretty damn hard to get it all polished and finished up. I’m not sure who to be more excited about on that 7″ to be totally honest – Lorn and Nosaj Thing are both top notch electronic music producers.

Jason is yet to be signed to a lable, which kinda blows my mind! Hefty? Alphapup? Glitch Mob Unlimited? Seriously what are you guys waiting for? This guy is Glitch-Hop’s best kept secret!

I also recommend checking out his friend Kawata, and the Mixtape. It reminded me how much i love Ratatat. If you haven’t heard their Remixes Vol. 2 yet you really should cop that shit also.

A Brief Exploration of Aphex Twin & Squarepusher

Dewey dB — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 02:55:55 +0000

Hello, and thank you all for your continued support of my music blog. I’m glad that many people frequent it because I really love sharing music with everyone in my life. One of the questions I get asked on a consistant basis is to recommend some “good” Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) and Squarepusher (Thomas Jenkinson) songs. I would like to take a moment to emphasize the point that this is by no means an exhaustive journey into either of these creative geniuses. Rather these six songs I have selected, three from each artist, are meant as a sampling of a few of my favourite songs by each artist. If you know of similar songs by these artists, we would love to hear about it, just leave a comment! Without any further rambling lets begin:
Aphex Twin – Girl/Boy Song sample taken from his 1996 LP “Richard D. James”
Squarepusher – Port Rhombus taken from his 1996 EP “Port Rhombus”
Aphex Twin – Flim sample taken from his 1997 LP “Come to Daddy”
Aphex Twin – Window Licker sample taken from his 1999 EP “Windowlicker”
Squarepusher – My Red Hot Car taken from his 2001 LP “Go Plastic”
Squarepusher – Do You Know Squarepusher taken from his 2002 LP “Do You Know Squarepusher”

Honourable mention also go to the following songs, which are also very good, but I am not comfortable posting that many “sample” songs on here, so look them up, and buy the cd’s/lp’s to support these guys!
Squarepusher – Iambic 5 Poetry (Budakhan Mindphone EP, 1999)
Squarepusher – Iambic 9 Poetry (Ultravisitor LP, 2004)
Squarepusher – Come on my selector (Big Loada EP, 1997)
Aphex Twin – Vordhosbn (DrukQs LP, 2001)
Aphex Twin – Avril 15th (DrukQs LP, 2001)
Aphex Twin – Mt Saint Michel Mix St. Michaels Mount (DrukQs LP, 2001)

Edit – Crying Over Pros For No Reason (Planet Mu)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:59:17 +0000

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.”

Deceptikon – Lost Subject (Merck)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:57:34 +0000

Lost Subject is the chilled out debut of a Portland based producer Deceptikon. Creating smooth jazzy downtempo beats, his music is evocative and atmospheric, equally drawing upon hip hop and jazz elements for his gorgeously produced carefully crafted grooves. Utilising numerous techniques, yet regularly arriving at a similar funky location, Deceptikon effortlessly creates the kind of highly composed beat orientated instrumental hip hop pieces championed in recent times by Ninja Tune via the likes of Sixtoo or Blockhead. Whilst not necessarily pushing the sonic envelope, Deceptikon is peerless in his ability to get a groove on, though he is at his best on cuts like /treeghost/ where he doesn’t rely solely on the beats, utilising acoustic guitar and synthesizer to create an intimate sense of longing. Composed over the last few years, Lost Subject is a journey that fits perfectly into the lounge room – funky basslines, crackling trip hop beats and lush gentle atmospheres that act as a relaxing tonic to all the stressors of daily life.

Little Plastic Pilots – Little Plastic Pilots (Kanpai Records)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:56:59 +0000

Sam Nelson doesn’t use a single truly novel sound or effect on his first album as Little Plastic Pilots. Every sample and tone you hear has been used by one electronic auteur or another, and most have been done half to death. What’s most remarkable about Little Plastic Pilots, then, is the fact that an absolutely unmistakable personality and musical vision arises from the arrangement and interplay of these utterly familiar elements. Nelson doesn’t attempt to redefine or reinvigorate his genre (as have some of his biggest influences, including Aphex Twin, Autechre, and Boards of Canada); rather, he’s the sort of artist who, finding a complete set of tools and genre parameters available to him, exploits one corner of that established framework to the utmost. More often than not, it’s artists of Nelson’s temperament who create most of a given genre’s most memorable statements.

Nobody – And Everything Else (Plug Research)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:55:58 +0000

This album finds Nobody (aka Elvin Estela) in transition and in regression, building on psychedelic themes apparent in his last album, yet revisiting his hip-hop roots as heard on hisdebut Soulmates (2000, Ubiquity Records). Nobody once again teams upwith Mystic Chords of Memory (Chris Gunst of Beachwood Sparks and JenCohen of the Aisler’s Set) and Farmer Dave Scher (Beachwood Sparks) who delivered the standout track on Pacific Drift, a beat heavy cover of theMonkees’ “Porpoise Song.” This time, they jump 30 years to cover one ofNobody’s favorite 90’s anthems, The Flaming Lips’ “What is the Light?“

Deceptikon Live from Oregon & More Web Tracks (Merck)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:55:15 +0000

I just stumbled upon a great live set recorded by Percussion Lab: “we are proud to feature this live set by M3rck recording artist, Deceptikon. His blend of raw hip hop with smooth instrumental loops has been keeping us here at Percussion Lab entertained for the past week. Zack Wright aka Deceptikon has been making electronic music for quite a few years, and signed with Merck Records (based out of Miami, Florida) in 2002. His debut 12″ release, “Lost Subject,” went out of print only four months after it was released. His first full-length album, also titled “Lost Subject”, was released on Merck in May of this year. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Deceptikon has played many shows in Oregon, Washington, and New York City over the last few years “
Download the mix from here!
Also If you’re a big Deceptikon fan, you should note that he’s also got a few new tracks out floating on the internet:
Deceptikon – Cut & Revision A short sample from a comp on Refinery Records
Deceptikon – Defenestration (beta) Beat of the Week on Complex Players Club
Deceptikon – Ashes of Shanghai unreleased bonus mp3 on Merck.

Clark – Throttle Furniture (Warp)

Dewey dB — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 05:53:39 +0000

This new ep from the artist formerly known as Chris Clark, is going to be seriously on point, as always! Mr. Clark is well known in the experimental electronic music scene as being one of the godfathers of the genre. His first EP, Clarence Park was an intense journey through his twisted interpretation of electronic music, with serveral tracks that were so powerful and emotional I had them on winamp repeat for well over a week. With his first double lp, Empty the Bones of You, his style drifted somewhat to the more minimalistic/ambient style of electronica, but still very cutting edge and Warp worthy! His second EP, Ceramics is the Bomb continued along the same style of minimal nasty broken beats truely only worthy of a true electronic fiend.
His third EP, Throttle Furniture, is a sneak preview from warp records of the direction clark will be taking with his newest and second full length album, as well as some of the material he will be showcasing on his upcomming UK tour with 65 days of Static starting on the 25th of February. Unfortunately the only song on this EP that will be on his forthcomming album is Herr Bar, and we haven’t been able to get our filthy little fingers on that one yet, ’cause the EP isn’t out till Feb 20th, but we do have a very special treat for all our dedicated readers, a downtempo.ca exclusive, Clark – Frau Wav which has an incredibly catchy wonky plastic disco style to it. Download
Of course you can also pre-order the the EP from WarpMart