Music

Com Truise, Nosaj Thing

1884 Lounge
Fri Oct 13 10pm Ages: 18+
Musictechno / electronic
Com TruiseNosaj Thing

About Com Truise, Nosaj Thing


Wave 1 is the first new transmission the world has received from producer Seth Haley since his gloriously futuristic debut album Galactic Melt. That album cataloged the genesis and evolution of Haley's alter ego Com Truise ??? the world's first synthetic/robotic astronaut, as Haley described him ??? and this EP continues the character's journey into the outer reaches of the musical multiverse. In the process, it also builds on Haley's signature production style, one that's rooted in classic sci-fi sounds and analogue textures but nevertheless manages to sound utterly contemporary.

The EP takes its name from the newly discovered galaxy to which the intrepid astronaut's voyages take him, and there certainly seems to be a narrative structure to its sequencing. Opening track "Wasat" sets the scene, providing a brief, atmospheric prelude that quickly settles into an uptempo, hypercolor groove. "Mind" is an exercise in dramatic tension, its beats constantly threatening to explode into a full-fledged four-to-the-floor stomp, but never quite doing so. "Declination," which features guest vocals from Joel Ford (Airbird, Ejecta, Ford & Lopatin), glides into your headphones like a starship slipping down out of hyperspace ??? it's the EP's most melodic moment, and perhaps the most straightforwardly melodic tune in the Com Truise oeuvre to date.

"Subsonic" is full of dramatic grandeur, marking the moment at which the EP's initial rush of energy subsides into the sort of dramatic, slow-building textures that should really be soundtracking the birth of new stars. The track evolves through several movements, and is full of evocative electronic textures (along with one hell of a squelchy bass sound). "Valis Called (Control)" maintains the reflective mood, while "Meserere Mei" is all fractured beats and jagged textures. The title track brings the record to a close with an air of serenity, the melody line drifting away into the distance on washes of sci-fi synth sounds.

Haley described Galactic Melt as a "sort of film score???from the mind," and Wave 1 works the same way, evoking the latest stage in the intergalactic journey of Com Truise ??? and leaving you wondering what corner of the cosmos he'll visit next.


Los Angeles producer Nosaj Thing crafts stately, ethereal synth-based instrumental hip-hop, with influences that range from Boards of Canada and DJ Shadow to Danny Elfman and Erik Satie. An L.A. native, Jason Chung was inspired at an early age by the hip-hop radio stations that the bus driver would play on his way to elementary school, and particularly by the Beat Junkies' turntablism on Power 106. In high school, while delving into the sounds of drum'n'bass and the rave scene and playing quad toms in the school drum line, he figured out how to use his father's old PC to start programming beats of his own. Further along, Chung was motivated to move in more experimental directions by the D.I.Y. rock scene at L.A.'s underground venue The Smell, where he made his live debut as Nosaj Thing in 2004. Through online and in-person networking, on message boards, and, eventually, at the more beat-oriented music spot Low End Theory, Chung came into contact with like-minded Angelenos including Flying Lotus, Nobody, Daedelus, and local legends (and personal heroes) like D-Styles and Daddy Kev. Following the self-released Views/Octopus EP in 2006 (whose track "Aquarium" was later used by rapper Kid Cudi as the basis of his "Man on the Moon"), he signed with Kev's Alpha Pup imprint for his full-length debut, Drift, in 2009. Chung contributed beats to MCs Busdriver, Nocando, and Kendrick Lamar, and made remixes for Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Radiohead, and Smell staples Health. His second album, Home, was issued on Innovative Leisure in 2013. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, Rovi

Videos

Com Truise - In Decay - Full Album

video:Com Truise - In Decay - Full Album
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