Nicolas Jaar: Space Is Only Noise

Nicolas Jaar
Space Is Only Noise
Rating: Grrrr

21 year old Providence/New York/Chilean producer Nicolas Jaar has a lot on his plate these days. In between running his own record label (Clown and Sunset), remixing other artists (Matthew Dear, Azari & III, The Bees), and attending Brown University, he has been releasing his own singles and EPs. He has been compared favorably with Chilean techno lord Richard Villalobos, however, Jaar's sound is not likely to make you move swiftly to the dancefloor. While his base is dance music, he, like James Blake/Mount Kimbie et al, are interested more in texture and subverting the normal expectation as to what dance music is. I mention Blake because that is probably the most common artist he will be compared with. Both started out taking uncommon soul and R&B samples, cutting them up, and inserting them into disjointed soundscapes; full of loping rhythms, sub bass, and icy keyboards. Blake has since moved on to a more singer-songwriter approach, moving his own vocals to the forefront. I was more of fan of Blake's earlier work; and his debut album James Blake, while pretty, seems almost too sketch-like and not polished enough.

On the other hand, Nicolas Jaar's debut album Space Is Only Noise, is what I wished James Blake to be. Blake's album was too one-note at times, which resulted in killing the album's momentum. Jaar's album is more varied and interesting, constantly keeping the listener on edge, not knowing where he is going to lead. He balances the track list with gorgeous instrumentals, full of found sounds and audio collages, along with haunting electro ballads that show his bank of impressive production skills. Jaar's voice is not as lovely an instrument as Blake's, but he uses his more texturally, making it more of another component of the music.

His voice waivers between a deep, Matthew Dear-like croon, and a delicate falsetto. His voice is tender and endearing on the gorgeous "Balance Her In Between Your Eyes"



Deep and foreboding on "Too Many Kids Finding Rain In The Dust"



And he loves to take his voice and manipulate it, either tonally, or masking it entirely to make it another element in the mix. "Problems With The Sun" pitchshifts his voice to sound almost like a blues song sung by Satan:



"Keep Me There" takes his repetition of a phrase and makes it a background motif in the piece, surrounding it with lovely treated piano and hazy electronics, spiked with samples of flamenco guitars and warped horns:



Jaar's best tracks take disparate elements and combine them in unique and tantalizing ways. Lead single "I Got A Woman" takes a loping trip-hop beat and pairs it with a looped Ray Charles sample, jazzy piano, and French film dialogue, creating an aura of haunting despair:



The striking "Space Is Only Noise" merges an echoey, monotone vocal, with a dense, viscous bass line that is so heavy you can feel it in your bones:



One of the other standout tracks is the lonely, noirish "Specters Of The Future," with treated pianos, sampled film dialogue, post-dubstep beats, punctured with what sounds like samples of gospel vocals twisted and tortured into tortured wails.

Space Is Only Noise is not without its faults. Several of the tracks seem like sketches that should have been fleshed out a little more, and Jaar's voice, unlike James Blake's, is not very strong. He utilizes it well, but the songs with vocals would have stood out better had he used someone with better pipes. This are all pretty minor quibble though considering the strength of the production work. His ear and attention to detail are so sharp, these slight missteps are hardly noticable. So for fans of intriguing, left field electronic music, Nicolas Jaar's debut is highly recommended.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.