Album Review: Nosaj Thing - Home

Nosaj Thing
Home
Rating: Woof Daddy

Jason Chung, otherwise known as Nosaj Thing, initially was lumped into the LA beat scene alongside artists like Flying Lotus. While there was a similar quality to that scene, Nosaj Thing's debut album Drift was more minimal and ominous, finding comparisons with the burgeoning UK bass music explosion more apt. While I was preparing to listen to his follow up Home, I returned to Drift and was amazed at the differences between the two records. Not to say that the records are not noticeably from the same artist, but the approaches are so different, as if attacked from two widely divergent angles. Drift is paranoid, edgy, and slightly leaning towards being cold, whereas Home is more warm and analog based, ambient, and ethereal. Chung has stated that Home is a very personal record to him, that he made it only for him, and there seems to be a very lonely, melancholy vibe throughout the record which, while seemingly personal, also has a universal quality to it where you can easily assign your own emotions and feelings to the tracks.

On Home, Chung really stretches himself to morph his sound in different ways, choosing to be less oblique and more direct. He even adds collaborators to the mix for the first time, and hits the ball out of the park. On "Eclipse/Blue," Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino lends her sultry, breathy vocals to the insistent beat and backwards flowing keyboards, creating an emotional heart to the record.



His other collaboration is with Toro Y Moi (a.k.a. Chazwick Bundick), the former beat maker turned retro-funk stylist, on the soft analog bubblebath of "Try." Burbling electronics ache and swoon over Bundick's achingly tender coos.



Of course, the main focus on the record is on the instrumentals, and each one here is full of interesting textures, melodies, and moments that all coalesce into a gorgeous whole. From the opening haze of title track "Home" with its clicking beats and dreamland keyboards,



to "Snap" with its woozy, stuttering beats and buzzing synths,



and the brilliant closing of "Light #3" where everything comes to a head, the fractured electronics and nervous beats are brought together by tender washes of synths, Home is constantly shifting and forcing you to listen deeply to the sounds.



The complaints I can see with the record are that it is merely background music and too quiet. It is definitely a headphones record, where you can immerse yourself in its pristine world. It is not a dense record, but there is a lot going on within these soundscapes. You can easily lose yourself in these elegantly melancholic compositions. The haunted strains of "Safe" whose subtle electronics are buffeted by ghostly sighs.



"Distance" combines muted two-step drum programming with Boards of Canada-esque melodies.



While "Prelude" sounds easily like Erik Satie returned from the grave and embraced electronic composition.



I've been completely immersed in this wonderful record and rarely have it off. There is something very inviting and warm about Home that keeps pulling me in, even though a lot of the tracks have a slightly somber feel to them. While Drift impressed with its production wizardry, Home takes things a step further by engaging the heart as well as the mind.

Rating Scale:

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 releases of the year.

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

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

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.