Every day, I sift through the hundreds of tracks that bombard my inbox. On a biweekly basis, I tell you about the two artists whose music most impressed me. This time, it's Chicago's Hieroglyphic Being's acid-house renovations and Seattle quintet Dining Dead's acerbic art rock.
Hieroglyphic Being, “I'm in a Strange Loop” (Smalltown Supersound)
Chicago producer Hieroglyphic Being (aka Jamal Moss) has been making spines tingle, skulls vibrate, and asses move for nearly 30 years. (Anyone who caught HB at 2013's Debacle Fest can attest to the man's ability to bring the heat live.) With deep roots in the Windy City's paradigm-shifting house scene, Moss nonetheless has gone off on radical tangents from that fertile dance-music source with releases on several prestigious labels, including Planet Mu, Soul Jazz, and RVNG Intl. He's part of an elite cadre of electronic musicians who have maintained phenomenal quality control for decades; others include Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Surgeon, and Autechre.Â
While acid house—and various mutations thereof—has been Moss's main mode, his output has been anything but one-dimensional. With the J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl (featuring Sun Ra Arkestra legend Marshall Allen), Moss explores the seldom-trodden intersection of club music and avant-garde jazz. See 2015's We Are Not the First for a prime example of their unique fusions. He's also delved into bizarre strains of ambient music with his "Imaginary Landscapes" series.Â
Continue reading »