DJ Jazner’s Jamz of 2010

LIKE I ALWAYS say to those haters who bag on Los Angeles and its so called light ‘pollution’: Who needs stars in the sky when they’re all over the ground, canvassing the endless city blocks and freeways as far as the eye can see?  One of these beaming celestial bodies is Cameron Mesirow, or Glasser, who released her full-length debut album Ring on True Panther Sounds earlier this September.

Right off the bat, the name of the album and cover art give you a sense of Glasser’s music. Cyclical like a ring and simultaneously disorientating and colorful as a kaleidoscope, Mesirow bumbles like a bee, humming and buzzing along her synth loops while pollinating heavenly harmonies that illuminate her crystalline voice. The album is smooth like a Kobe Bryant jump shot at the buzzer, a fluid ‘swish,’ untouched by any dissonance and leaving the listener in a state of ethereal bliss.

Ring balances on heavy, grimy drum beats with deep tribal undertones, reverberating bass that hits you in your darkest of viscera, and twinkling, glittering electronic sparkles of bells, vibes, crisp snaps and strings, all topped off with Mesirow’s seductive vocals. The album starts off with the druggy, gritty “Apply,” juxtaposing hypnotic stomping drums with Glasser’s signature choral echoes. It’s also an ode to Mesirow’s production friend GarageBand, which is what she first used to develop her beats on her introductory EPs. Mix that with the penultimate “Treasury of We” that showcases Tortoise-like vibes and bass and a beat breakdown dropping with enough intensity to make you cringe from aural pleasure, and you’ve got an album where the ‘next’ button can be completely disregarded.

DJ Jazner‘s favorite piece, however, is the gem tucked right in the middle of Ring named “T.” It’s like being encased in a velvety K-hole navigated by a hazy angel that wants to wrap you in a warm blanket of dub bass and sentimental synth. “T” attacks you from all angles, pulling you along downstream til you reach a climatic waterfall of glistening, aqueous, magical arpeggios. If you find yourself overloaded on all your new Christmas music or sick of the endless ‘best of’ lists (except this one, of course), just find “T” and it’ll put all tensions to rest.

Who says you need thousand dollar music software and hardware, mixers, even physical instruments? Glasser demonstrates how you can be a baller on a budget, using something as generic and stock as GarageBand to set the stage for one of jazner‘s favorite albums of 2010. Although she developed her sound and moved on from her Apple origins on Ring, Glasser is nonetheless something to look out for in the year to come and a hot new ticket in the underground scene.

T

Apply