Live & Wild

Jaxson Payne is an UK musician who takes drumming to a completely new level. Way passed what one could call beta stage, Jaxson seems to be one of the few that to my mind reinvents what it means to actually play the drums in front of an audience.

With a midi-drumset and tons of samples that he improvises upon, he manages to blend various styles into something that is coherently dark and technoid. And this without anything prerecorded to boot; a quite delicate task in itself. To actually get it to sound good and impress the folks who come to watch you is a different thing altogether.

Listen to this. It's a part of a live gig recorded in 2008. Reportedly the last gig Jaxson performed under his moniker Derehctub. It gives you enough to be able to catch a glimpse of what set's this artist apart from his peers.

I haven't really got the time to delve into his releases on the label he releases his music on. But I expected listening to his releases on the label Koept to be a different experience then the live thing. I haven't really gotten around ordering any of his hard copy stuff yet, and have basically settled for the free mp3:s available on the site. After some search I found the three inch CD and mp3 release Ehff released back in 2002. It's an idm-esque two tracker oddity with soft lingering voices and the stuttering randomness that is very much part of the genré. Not totally unlike some of Aphex Twin's work. It is straight up my alley and is highly recommended, even for those who chose to avoid idm.

One of the lp releases on the Koept label aptly reads; Do not expect consistency. And with Jaxson Payne I suppose we won't. But I am personally very much interested in listening to what will come after Derehctub. Where will the final frontier of electronic music stand? And more importantly, will this place serve you descent enough tea?

Find Ehff and more releases here