Jimmy Edgar


James "Jimmy" Edgar is an American musician, and Creative Director from Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by Detroit techno, Rap and R&B, early in his career he released two hip-hop glitch albums under the names Michaux and Kristuit Salu and Morris Nightingale. His first solo album Color Strip came out on Warp Records after he signed to the label at age 18. This release was followed by XXX on !K7 Records in 2010. After his last solo LP Majenta, he has released several EPS on his own Ultramajic Records, often designing the album covers with Pilar Zeta.
He has also been a part of the groups X District with Laura Clarke, Her Bad Habit, the duo Plus Device, the group Creepy Autograph, and the duo J-E-T-S with Machinedrum. Currently based in Los Angeles, he tours frequently as a collaborator and solo artist, and has performed at venues such as Bang Face, I Love Techno, and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Edgar has also showcased his painting and fashion photography at a number of international exhibitions, and is known for making short films and directing music videos, often of an abstract nature.

Early life

James "Jimmy" Edgar was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1983. Raised in Detroit, Edgar developed an early interest in music and learned multiple instruments at a young age, including string instruments, saxophone, and percussion/drum set. He learned songwriting and piano from several musicians he met at Baptist churches in Detroit. Experimenting with electronic music by age ten, around age fifteen he started performing at Detroit raves. As a teenager he also began playing the drums in experimental bands and making tape recordings. Most of these recordings, consisting mainly of pitch bent tape loops, tape splicing, field recordings, and noise tracks, were the beginning of his experimentation with the technical aspects of production.

Music career

2004-08: Warp EPs and ''Color Strip''

His first release on Warp Records was the 2004 4-track EP Access Rhythm, which had a more "hip-hop sound" than his previous albums. Access Rhythm was shortly followed by the 6-track EP Bounce Make Model, which according to Allmusic, "first crystallized the erotic electro-funk sound for which would become well known." After touring in support of the two EPs, Edgar began working on his debut with Warp, a process that would take him two years. According to Edgar, his goal with the album was to "capture the essence of Detroit." It was made using software Edgar had customized himself, then recorded to analog tape. He released the full-length album as Color Strip in February 2006, to a positive critical reception. Allmusic called it "breathtakingly original," praising the album's "sleazy urban feel that combined techno, electro, R&B, glitch, and hip-hop influences." Pitchfork Media wrote in a review that "Edgar comes across as a committed student, absorbing twenty-five years of electronic music and figuring out how to integrate and mold the history into something that sits comfortably in the now."

2010-12: ''XXX'' and ''Majenta''

Edgar's solo album XXX came out June 2010 on K7 Records. Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote that Edgar's increased use of analog equipment in the recording process "refines his smutty neo-electro." Around that time Edgar continued to tour internationally, notably in cities such as Tokyo, Zagreb, Istanbul, Athens, Tallinn, Moscow, Turin, London, and Berlin. In 2012, Edgar released the solo album Majenta, on Hotflush Recordings. In a positive review of Majenta for the BBC, Rich Handscomb focused on the erotic element of the sounds, also writing that "As difficult as it is to take Edgar seriously at times, so earnest is he about his sexualised sonic seercraft that resistance is futile."

2012-14: JETS and Ultramajic

Edgar and Machinedrum released an eponymous EP in 2012 as the group J-E-T-S, and they also toured in support of the material, playing a number of major festivals. As a solo artist, as of 2014 Edgar has performed at festivals such as Bang Face, I Love Techno, and two appearances at the Movement Festival. In late 2013 he continued to be based in Berlin, though he soon began working out of Los Angeles as well.
Edgar founded the record label Ultramajic with artist Pilar Zeta in 2013. His first EP on Ultramajic was Hot Inside, and the lead single's music video was featured on THUMP in late 2013. In May 2014, he was brought in by the BBC to create an Essential Mix, focusing on the theme of "Ultramajic doing Detroit radio circa 1993." As of early 2014 Ultramajic had released over a dozen albums in the electronic genre, with both Zeta and Edgar designing most album covers.
In 2014, Resident Advisor released RA Podcast: RA.401 which was produced by Jimmy. The mix spanned 90 minutes and went through a meticulous recording process including mastering, cut onto 6 dubplate vinyl discs, digitally pasted together and remastered.

2015-18: ''Production''

In 2016, Jimmy Edgar released "Dreamz Come True" featuring Toronto R&B artist Rochelle Jordan. In 2017, after a chance meeting with longtime friend SOPHIE, he began production on Vince Staples album Big Fish Theory and produced the single "745". In 2018, Jimmy released a single under his own name called "Burn So Deep" featuring Dawn Richard.

Style and influences

;Musical influences
In his early years he was influenced by funk, street beat and R&B, also experimenting with pitch bent tape loops, tape splicing, field recordings, and noise tracks. Wrote City Weekend about is sound, "Edgar has transformed the sounds and energies of old-school Detroit electro and techno with suped-up eroticism and funk influences." He is also seen as an innovator in the genre of glitch.

Discography

Production

Singles