Jimmy Edgar is considered a musical prodigy, and already a veteran of the electronic music scene. His music contains elements of Detroit’s techno and soul heritage, combined with a modern minimalist aesthetic and some devastating programming skills.

Jimmy Edgar grew up in motor city Detroit. Before he was exposed to electronic music he listened to an eclectic mix of music, jazz, funk, punk, blues, street beat and r&b. As it happened, he used to live by a record store, and would be there everyday listening to random records. It was through funk that Edgar discovered electronic music.
 

"I listen to alot of everything, I have a passion for Bossa Nova, anything Latin, 80's goth rock and experimental electronic stuff like Stockhausen, Reich, Botrische, and Mauriz. Even then, I think I am most influenced by urban landscape, city fashion and more".

Since the age of 6, Edgar has played the drums. He would experiment with any type of instrument he could get his hands on, jazz, percussion, drums, whatever.
 
He began playing in bands in and around Detroit, and when he was still young he stole a pair of turntables, which rapidly increased his vinyl collection, particularly in the synthetic end of funk. He began combining different sounds and experimenting with tape manipulations, fucking around with them, creating and manipulating noise.

Detroit exposed Edgar to a lot at an early age, firstly the musical heritage of artists like Juan Atkins (Pictured), Carl Craig, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson and secondly Detroit’s seedy underground. At the age of fifteen, and with the help of his older brother /party promoter, Edgar was dj’ing alongside the likes of Juan Atkins and Derrick May, playing in strip clubs, whorehouses and raves. He incorporated analogue synths and drum machines to use in his dj sets, but soon realised that making music was what he really wanted to do.

His childhood was significantly moulded by Detroit, and has left its residue all over his productions. In 2006 he spoke to Stuart Aitken about capturing the essence of Detroit in his music, in an interview with The Milk Factory.

“It’s not something I try to do consciously so much. It’s more of a feeling that I create that is reminiscent of my childhood; just not the typically ‘la la la’ childhood, a bit more ghetto or urban. It’s hard for me to put it into words, but Detroit is a definite influence and something I will always have captured in a personal emotional way. Once I start thinking about it too much, I get sick.”

Edgar works in various trades, as an artist, musician, photographer, graphic designer, and as a fashion designer. His photography has been printed in various publications and magazines, such as H Magazine (Mexico), Spot (Spain), URB, Fused & Clash Magazine (UK). His style varies, from digital HDR technology to medium format film inspired by early Prada, Fendi and Calvin Klein adverts.

Edgar chooses to express himself in a variety of artistic mediums, to create new moods and feelings. For him he cannot just express himself in one medium, instead he chooses to delve into his creative depths, testing his limits, applying his ideas of fashion design into music, graphic layouts into films, film ideas into music. In hope of finding different mediums that help influence others, “it’s a nice rotation of inspiration and motivation”.

Music is his most connected form of expression, being able to control and manipulate sounds, environments and influencing the expression of others.  Like his professions the Edgar creative enterprise falls under a myriad of different names, aliases and alter egos, Her Bad Habit, Kirstuit Salu, Morris Knightingdale & Michaux.

For him it’s a system that allows a range of expressions, an extension of his varying personalities and tastes. Once every blue moon he can be found wearing fake moustaches and women’s underwear whilst performing satanic orgies. It’s clear that this guy is living for the experience.

In 1999 Edgar signed his first record deal with New York’s Isophlux Records. This followed with a techno track release, “We Like You” on the German Poker Flat label, after which Merck Records immediately signed him and released his first full length album “My Mines I” (2003) under his two guises Kirstuit Salu and Morris Knightingdale.

At the age of 18, 2000 limited copies of ‘My Mines I’ was released in February 2002. This release propelled and made concrete Edgar’s musical stature. By not conforming to his Detroit contemporaries, he created his own unique sound.  Critics have spoken of the album as the future of hip hop.

The album is the combination of two alter egos, Kirstuit Salu and Morris Knightingdale. They differ and provide different sounds; Kirstuit Salu is the glitch ambient side, more meditative and cerebral while Morris Knightingdale adopts a more Glitch-Hop style, more phat and funky rhythms. Reminiscent of old skool 80’s Hip Hop.

The sounds vary from chopped vocals and brittle high frequency sweeps over SETI pulses and random-access rhythms to down tempo minimal glitches, clicks and cuts, gorgeous synth’s, and static noise manipulated  to the rhythm of hip hop.

Every few years, a record comes along that really jumps out to you, sending the imagination into overdrive with fresh possibilities. Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works 85-92" and Boards Of Canada's "Music has The Right To Children" are the sort of albums that have reached that level for me. I believe that "My Mines I" is another. Trust me; you need to check this album out.

In 2003 Edgar released “%20” under the guise Michaux on the Audio.Nl label. Considered to be the labels finest release, ‘%20’presents us with a different guise and therefore a different expression of Edgar’s music.

“%20” is exceptionally rare and physical copies are almost finite. Boomkat describe it as "A stringent and really quite incredible disc”, if you get this album, lock your house, turn up the volume and immerse yourself into it. Its sound is less clinical to “My Mines I” but a lot more noxious. Its construction incorporates micro-dub sounds with cuts and clicks. Edgar even runs viral programs during his work on this music, enabling him to hone the beat, reducing it to its prime components, and mould every glitch into the very matter of electronic music. The software.

In the following three years Edgar released two EP’s through Warp records, “Access Rhythm” (Jan 2004)and “Bounce, Make, Model” (Nov 2004). Despite being released under the name ‘Jimmy Edgar’, “Access Rhythm” has tracks featuring his alter musical ego, Morris Knightingale. The beats are clipped down to their essence, and a small handful of samples are repeatedly pulled, pushed, broken and reconfigured in the spaces left behind. The EP has elements of Prefuse 73 incorporated, ‘No Static’ demonstrates Edgar’s ability to deconstruct a tune to its limits, and rather than overloading the listener with a wealth of samples, each song is a little demonstration of how much can be done with so little.

“Bounce, Make, Model” (2004) presents us with a funky dance floor EP. More dub, techno and less hip hop. It still presents us with Edgars chopped up glitches and minimal clicks, but its alot more sexual, it's got a dark subtle overtone to it, it almost breathes soul.

For the first time "Bounce, Make, Model" incorporates Edgars voice, sped up and distorted to a tongue in cheek tone, it's finely demonstrated on the “My Beats EP” (2006) and within the "Bounce, Make, Model" track "I Want to Be Your STD". Carrying on this feel, both "Beau" and "LBLB Detroit" go for a smoother sound, while "Uniform (Citation)" has a bounce to it that gets you jumping.

In 2006 Jimmy released under Warp Records “Color Strip”. This album pulls tracks from his previous three EP’s and serves up his typical hip-hop like beats with minimal dub glitches and synth’s. The skittering beats, chopped up vocals, half-suggested melodies and gorgeous production of album opener “Pret'a'Porter” set the tone well, "Hold It, Attach It, Connect It" is also an impecable tune. To say that Edgar enjoys a good chopped up vocal would be an understatement. “My Beats” - the album’s stand out track - with its synthesised vocals and cracking electro sounds eerily like early Cybotron material - as if filtered through the mixing desk of Timbaland.

To celebrate Mr Edgars first release as a Warp artist there’s a hidden track on the album ten minutes or so after the album is finished. The bonus hidden track features Edgar in full vocoder style. Customers who bought the physical record through Warp Mart also received the exclusive “Rhythm Denial”. The mix is extreme, seriously down tempo and beatless, the album showcases a whole different side to Edgar. Through the lush soundscapes, at times interrupted by complex interference patterns, melodies are merely hinted at. “Color Strip” has been deconstructed to the point of no return, only the playful melody of ‘Semierotic’ is allowed to shine through, sounding in this context all the more joyful.

Until you listen to these records, it’s impossible to imagine Jimmy Edgars music, all i can do is recommend that this guy should not be missed, it is clear that he is extremely good at what he does, and at his age, who knows what the future will hold for him and our ears. Currently he is living and working New York, look out for my next review on Jimmy Edgar and New York.

www.jimmyedgar.com

Jimmy Edgar Photography

Jimmy Edgar MySpace

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