About J Ames

Listening and writing.

Little People – Mickey Mouse Operation

Posted on April 17, 2013 by J Ames

Mickey Mouse Operation
Little People

Genre: Instrumental

Little People is the pseudonym of Laurent Clerc, a Swiss and English producer who resides in England. Clerc is adept at picking apart orchestral compilations to mix and match a handful of organic instruments with his simple synth leads and patterns. He combines videogame-esque swirling and repeating synths with distorted instruments to set down a murky layer of counter-melody. This miasma of electronic sound emphasizes the entrance of organic noises, such as the regularly featured piano and strings, that draw the listener’s attention and cut through the echoing fog. The solid foundation beneath this mist is the drums – lightly shuffling snares and soft, crisp, kicks add a weighty texture to each song.

Mickey Mouse Operation is one of those rare instrumental albums with a foundation solid enough to stand on its own without the help of vocals and lyrics. Clerc imbues his work with a layer of nostalgia and melancholy that settles just below the surface of each song. I recommend reflecting while listening – maybe Clerc will help you dig something up.

Buy Here ($7)

Tut-Piece – Gold Jury

Posted on March 10, 2013 by J Ames

Gold Jury
Tut-Piece

Genre: Instrumental/Hip-Hop

“All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.” Interesting to see a quote from Plato’s Laws juxtaposed with an artist by the name of Tut-Piece on an album called Gold Jury.

At first I thought that Tut-Piece was slang for tooth-piece or grill, drawing conclusions from the album artwork. After a little more research I found that Tut-Piece could be a reference to the Ghostface Killah song “Motherless Child”: “Oh Shit! Bookhead, just bought a 5 G-headed King Tut Piece, about the size of little Maurice.” So it seems that Ghostface is referring to a child-sized $5000 piece of jewelry that either resembles King Tut, or that would be decadent enough to be found adorning the Egyptian Pharaoh. Dude has built materialism and a degree of gaudy ignorance into the very essence of everything he ever makes by calling himself Tut-Piece, and yet he throws a Plato quote condemning materialism right under his name? Strange. Gold Jury can be read literally as a body of people convened to render impartial judgement, but that have been in some way influenced by Gold, greed, materialism – a critique of the justice system and how it is susceptible to greed. Or it could just be a lazy way to pronounce Gold Jewelry, building upon the flashy, unsubstantial theme laid out with a name like Tut-Piece. Then dude dedicates the album to his late God-Father, again making you wonder what his true values are. Is he using irony and contradiction to get us to think about his message, or did he just haphazardly throw stuff together on the front of his album?

Speculation aside, I wouldn’t be nearly as fascinated with Tut-Piece’s image if he made boring, unsubstantial music. Case in point – OFWGKTA’s decline in significance after their music started to suck due to Frank Ocean and Earl disassociating themselves, along with Tyler’s refusal to evolve his style. An intriguing image is no substitue for what an artist should deliver, and Tut-Piece delivers amazingly soulful, heavy, downtempo beats. He shifts seamlessly from ethereal tinklings and lofty chord progressions into heavy, gritty pounding kicks and smooth basslines, then walks a fine line in balancing the opposites. These beats will take you back in time as you nod your head and reflect on the old images that are liable to conjure up in your mind. The 80′s soul still shines through in every sample, undistorted by the skillful tempo-tweaking and looping.

Dude needs to release again soon – he’s got me intrigued. The ambiguity of the message adds the the texture of the music, a feat you don’t come across often these days.

Download Here (Bandcamp – Free)

Emancipator – Dusk to Dawn

Posted on February 16, 2013 by J Ames

Dusk to Dawn
Emancipator

Genre: Trip-Hop/Orchestral

Douglas Appling, better known by his stagename Emancipator, is a producer from Portland Oregon. He got his first big break in 2007 when Nujabes featured his track “with rainy eyes” on Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection. As Nujabes’ acclaim grew at an astronomical rate, fans couldn’t help but fall in love with regularly featured artists such as Substantial, Funky DL, Cise Starr, Shing02, and Uyama Hiroto - Emancipator only made one appearance alongside Nujabes, but this brief exposure was enough to expose me to Appling’s talent.

As “with rainy eyes” began to accumulate plays in my library, I decided to give Emancipator’s other music a listen. Now, 7 years and 3 albums later, Emancipator remains my go-to source for music without vocals. Whether I’m studying, sleeping, driving, thinking, or relaxing, Emancipator’s sound delivers every single time. Never overbearing but ever- tinkling, pinging, plucking, drifting, gliding, skating, Emancipator will enchant you with his subtle and meticulously crafted arrangements and mastery of sound-melding. Here is a condensed list of the sounds you can expect to hear in any given song: Violin, sitar, Chinese flute, vocals used as instruments, acoustic and electric guitar, saxophone, piano, banjo, fiddle, vibraphone, and always, ALWAYS, amazing percussion that far transcends anything a person from this planet should be able to produce. Also, with song titles like Galapagos, Valhalla, Father King, Wolfdrawn, Natural Cause, bury them bones, and rattlesnakes, he comes off as a royal, sword-wielding biologist-turned-cowboy vigilante on a quest through the wilds for justice.

Dusk to Dawn is his new album, released on his new record label (Loci Records) and after listening to it straight through 6 or 7 times I can definitively say that every single song on the album is a classic. Something tells me Emancipator would’ve been just fine without Nujabes’ endorsement.

Buy Here (Bandcamp – $10)

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Author Archives: J Ames

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Little People – Mickey Mouse Operation

Tut-Piece – Gold Jury

Emancipator – Dusk to Dawn

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