Emancipator

“Safe in the Steep Cliffs”
from the album Safe in the Steep Cliffs
2010
iTunes

At the age of 19, Emancipator self-released his first album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, in 2006. While his electronic, instrumental trip-hop did not receive much notice in his American homeland until 2009, fans sprouted across the World Wide Web and the globe, perhaps most notably in Japan. Japanese producer Nujabes (his real name, Seba Jun, spelled backwards) picked up the album and within the first six months, Emancipator — an independent musician if there ever was one — sold 5,000 copies. He landed a Puma sponsorship and before long, Rolling Stone Japan pressed him for an interview. Hype Machine rated “Shook,” a song featuring rapper Mobb Deep and Icelandic band Sigur Ros’s tunes, as one of the “Best 50 Songs of 2007,” and the ranking shot up to second-most-loved song in April 2009 on the same site. In 2008, one of his songs made it to the Beijing Olympics’ broadcast system (without much permission, although Emancipator was not one to complain). In August of last year, he played in Tokyo in memory of his benefactor Nujabes, who died in February.

Emancipator’s second album, Safe in the Steep Cliffs, has an eclectic, even organic feel, featuring here and their sound bites of what I think are birds and sounds of nature. There is something eerie about the choir in “Bury Them Bones” (track 10), although the rest of the track sounds like it belongs in a Quentin Tarantino film. “Kamakura” (track 4) shows some distinct Asian leanings, as does “Siren” (track 13). “Safe in the Steep Cliffs” begins like a lullaby, but when the guitar kicks in (and is that a banjo I hear?) one can imagine the vast, rolling continent in all of America’s self-professed glory.

It’s safe to say that the second album is more eclectic than his first but manages to be clean, as per Emancipator style, and uncluttered. The beats are smooth, sometimes trippy, and always something you find yourself nodding or tapping a foot to. Although I don’t think I’ve listened to the album enough to say I like it more than his debut piece, it is, if anything, a fitting progression in his unique music career. I recommend popping in a copy to have streaming through your headphones if you happen to be working from a desk and through speakers while enjoying a glass of wine or a full-bodied beer with friends.