Bay Area producer Brandon LaSan once literally schooled people -- Oakland high-school students and at-risk youths, actually -- in the art of beat construction. Now he (metaphorically) does the same for esoteric electronic-music heads. He specializes in cramming maximal amounts of data into his compositions; much of his second outing under the name Yoko Solo recalls fellow Bay Area denizens Meat Beat Manifesto, but with a more ADD-afflicted approach. While both artists seem to be enamored of science-fiction soundtracks, bizarre analogue-synth effects (The Beeps indeed), and militantly funky breakbeats, LaSan comes across more as a child of video games' golden era. Whereas Meat Beat's Jack Dangers has a vault full of highbrow musique concrète LPs, LaSan likely harbors dozens of Nintendo and Sega products in his closet, channeling their fantastic visions into compositions that induce uneasiness and disorientation while jolting you into hypervigilant alertness. The Beeps will surely help you get your game on.
Contact the author of this piece, send a letter to the editor, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.
Latest in CD Reviews
-
Daft Punk
Random Access Memories
- May 22, 2013
-
Snowden
No One in Control
- May 22, 2013
-
Will Calhoun
Life in This World
- May 22, 2013
- More »
Author Archives
-
The Howling Hex
1-2-3
- Feb 15, 2006
-
Cluster & Eno
Cluster & Eno
- Sep 28, 2005
- More»
