Here is some new stuff about a very young producer that came out of nowhere earlier this year. Emancipator is his name – or his artist bame, played his first live show in July 2009, opening for Bonobo at Roseland Theater New York.
Since then, he’s toured with Bassnectar, STS9, Pretty Lights, and played at festivals like Trinumeral and Symbiosis, and closed out Sound Tribe Sector 9’s late night parties in Denver at the request of the band.
Emancipator self-released his first album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, at the age of 19 in 2006. His lovely melodies layered over, immaculately-produced beats captivated fans across the internet and across the world.
“Soon It Will Be Cold Enough” was picked up by Japanese producer Nujabes, pressed in Japan and sold 5,000 copies in the first six months. Emancipator landed a Puma sponsorship, gave an interview to Rolling Stone Japan, discovered one of his songs was played at the Beijing Olympics (he is still trying to figure out how that happened) and his song “Shook,” a mashup that perfectly mixes Mobb Deep’s mighty raps with a Sigur Ros track, became the highest-rated song on Hype Machine’s “Best 50 Songs of 2007”. It also appeared on Hype Machine as the #2 most popular song in April 2009.
His latest album “Safe In The Steep Cliffs” blends new instrumentation and organic samples with the signature Emancipator style of smooth clean production, silky melodies and addictive drums. Dense layers of choirs, horns, American folk instruments such as banjo and mandolin, violin and some distinct Asian influences make for a playful but refined album. Built out of intricate tracks listeners can enjoy on as many levels as they want. Dance to it, chill out to it, immerse your mind in it.
Great music – go find him.