Space is Only Noise

Nicolas Jaar has graduated - at least from the trappings of any young electronic music producer (his graduation from Brown University is 18 months away). The 20 year old New Yorker by way of Chile presents Space is Only Noise, an uncompromising manifesto on traces of the past, love lost, and specters of the future. Jaar has made it quite apparent over the course of his nascent catalog and increasingly sought after live sets that challenge is an intrinsic part of his creative discourse. Few are the producers of any age with the cohones to ride a sub-100-bpm tempo at peak time in the techno Mecca of Berlin, and fewer still are those who receive an ecstatic hands-in-the-air response for their precocious efforts. It is precisely this sense of risk which elevates Space is Only Noise beyond the realm of valiant first effort or crossover dance music oddity. Those looking to wade through the sea of Jaar's potential influences will quickly find themselves in the deep waters of golden age Factory records, home spun digitalism of Mille Plateaux, Endtroducing-era DJ Shadow and Eric Satie. Space is Only Noise is a tour de force with few modern equals, and a great sign of things to come from one of electronic music's most exciting producers.