January 8th, 2010
The Low End Theory crew coming through to ensure that your weekend is 22 percent more wonky. In the magical dream world I inhabit (where I get to be a Viking), there would be medical marijuana dispensaries that played nothing but Nosaj Thing, Gaslamp and Flying Lotus, et. al and sold Willy Wonky Weed Bars. In my lifetime (volume 1) I have eaten nugrageous bars and Chronic Crunch, so there is hope. Occasionally, my Valhalla would play Soul For Real and the sky would unleash oceans of Candy Rain. Also, there would be universal health care.
Download:
MP3: Gaslamp Killer & Kutmah - Low End Theory Podcast XI
MP3: The xx - Islands (Nosaj Thing Remix) (CDQ) (Left-Click)
Posted in Nosaj Thing, Low End Theory | 2 Comments »
December 30th, 2009
A temporary break from our regularly scheduled programming. This is probably the only way I will ever willingly listen to Drake. I mean,”I’m shutting shit down in the malls?” Is that really something you should brag about? 2010: the year of New Kids on the Block rap. As always, Jason Chung creates a eerily gorgeous beat that James Cameron should’ve used for the Avatar soundtrack. No matter what a disappointment Relapse was, there is no denying that Eminem is still better at rapping than almost everyone else on earth. The only thing he didn’t do on “Forever” is give Kanye, Wayne and Drake melvins.
Download:
MP3: Drake - “Forever (Nosaj Thing Remix)”
Posted in Nosaj Thing | 3 Comments »
December 15th, 2009
I’m still reeling from last night’s Brainfeeder Sessions. Mono/Poly, ESKMO, and Nosaj Thing torpedoing my mind into scattered tessarae. Think a hip-hop laserium, cat-nip for the stoned–as evidenced by the billowing clouds of smoke periodically erupting in the darkened Downtown Independent theatre. Standing room only, clumps of people from Low End graduates to those studying at top business schools, commanding the stairwells, the aisles, every last square inch of real estate. Whooping cheers. Shouted props. Mono/Poly, all stuttering glitches and raw power, bass heavy like a hammer at your rib cage, synthesizing bland Bakersfield flatness into neurotic stabs of paranoia. Hip-hop at its most bent and baleful. ESKMO with visuals of ultra-violent anime, casting a sinister hybrid of worm-riddled dubstep and warped break beats, teasing in shards of color only to return with a wobbling dub the color of San Francisco fog.
Nosaj Thing, the star of this homecoming performance, debuting his new visual show, a labyrinth of clean lines and cold geometry wrestling on the big-screen. Figures and shapes cresting and falling, forming and disintegrating in time with the sounds–the ethereal haze of Drift, punctuated by its elements of inspiration: Busta Rhymes “Dangerous” disembodied and dazed, the UFO sounds from the intro to “ATLiens,” Cube’s “You Know How We Do It.” Jason Chung is the quiet composer of the camp, or the “George Harrison of the Low End” as August Brown so aptly put it. There is something very rare going on in Los Angeles and everyone involved nods and talks about it in whispers like a no-hitter. I should probably shut the fuck up. Hopefully, no one will tell the Fire Marshall.
See Also: Dance Fever 5000’s Review.
Download:
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”IOIO”
MP3: Mono/Poly-”Distant From”
MP3: ESKMO-”Colorbrain Mix”
MP3: DJ Nobody & Free The Robots-Low End Theory Podcast Episode X
Posted in Nosaj Thing, Brainfeeder, Mono/Poly, Low End Theory | 2 Comments »
November 20th, 2009
Photo by Christopher Soltis
Give XLR8R credit. While the economic crash has turned most print mags into skeletal shells (shills?) of their former self or has found them unable to find an Internet niche, the San Francisco-based dance publication has survived with its integrity intact. Outside of RA, few places have covered the bass/wonky/dubstep explosion in greater depth, with their latest cover story on Joker perhaps the most extensive look at the Bristol wunderkind yet. Granted, that’s not saying much–the guy’s either shy or has the personality of cream of wheat (which has surprisingly little personality despite the jovial fellow on the box).
Now they’ve enlisted Nosaj Thing for a must-download podcast with unreleased Flying Lotus, Teebs, and Jason Chung tracks. Not to mention Samiyam, Exile, Gaslamp, Ras G, Daedelus, and Tokimonsta. Amounted together, it might as well be a Best of the Low End Theory compilation, and another reason why…I don’t need to give you another reason. Tracklist below the jump. True Train Wreck not included (there are enough of those in SoCal).
Download:
MP3: XLR8R- Nosaj Thing Podcast
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nosaj Thing, Low End Theory | 6 Comments »
November 10th, 2009
After years of blogging, you’d think I’d learn my lesson and not invoke grandiose posts that traffic, migraines, and malingering conspire to prevent me from writing. But despite the linguistic similarity to my surname, I am not wise. So perhaps something on Attention Deficit tomorrow, perhaps not. In the meantime, a fulfilled promise alluded to two weeks ago: a long-form feature on Jason Chung, a.k.a. Nosaj Thing, a.k.a. the best thing from Cerritos since Cerritos Auto Square. (RIP Big Ern)
The article is my first for Resident Adviser, the dance and electronic music magazine extraordinaire. For those chagrined that Stylus is no more, Todd Burns, ex-chairman of the Sty, currently runs RA and has reunited many of my former colleagues. It is very much worth adding to your RSS feed– if you’re into that sort of thing. In the interim, more Nosaj rarities. Know what I mean.
Download:
MP3: Jogger-”Nice Tights” (Nosaj Thing Remix)
MP3: Daedelus-”It’s Madness” (Nosaj Thing Remix)
MP3: Low End Theory Podcast (D-Styles & Nosaj Thing)
Posted in Resident Adviser, Nosaj Thing, Beats, Low End Theory | 3 Comments »
October 21st, 2009
Nosaj Thing elaborating on the inspirations behind Drift, which is increasingly looking top five for the year. I recommend listening at 35,000 feet at 3 a.m with a pair of steroid-strong headphones and zonked on a quart of red wine. Yours Truly also captures Jason Chung rocking his tracks live with surprising style and flair (37-plus pieces). A long feature on the backwards spelling beatmaker is coming soon. In the meantime, another cut from Drift and a Boris remix that the Alpha Pup-signed artist recently did for a Scion-sponsored comp. What more could you ask for?
Download:
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”IOIO”
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”Buzz In (Boris Remix)”
Posted in Nosaj Thing, Low End Theory | 3 Comments »
