Providence, R.I.
Knob-Twisting Newcomer
www.nicolasjaar.net

While it may not be a revolutionary concept to infuse difficult-to-digest sonic dissonance into music made for dancing, knob-twisting newcomer Nicolas Jaar has pioneered a new brand of cerebral, beat-laden jams that are both mind-stimulating and undeniably head-bop-inducing. Fueled by a desire to slow down the warped speed of modern life, Jaar meticulously crafts songs which tap into a curious juxtaposition of alienating ambient grooves and a universal emotive human quality. On his debut effort, Space Is Only Noise (which dropped in February), Jaar, who describes his esoteric sound as “a conscious forgetting – a forgetting of consciousness,” manages to merge a global-centric sensibility with an unpredictable avant-garde aesthetic. Disjointed hip-hop percussion gives way to droning hums, haunting samples slide into French voiceovers, and pleasantly piercing exotic string sections collide with tinny keyboards, making for a transcendental listening experience that shifts and morphs like the ebb and flow of the tide. When he’s not doing homework, this 20-year-old wunderkind and full-time student at Brown University is busy changing the face of electronic music, one profoundly moving track at a time.

While it may not be a revolutionary concept to infuse difficult-to-digest sonic dissonance into music made for dancing, knob-twisting newcomer Nicolas Jaar has pioneered a new brand…