Nicolas Jaar
Nicolás Jaar (born January 10, 1990)[1] is a Chilean-American (with Palestinian ancestry from Bethlehem) composer and recording artist based in New York. Among his notable works are the albums Space Is Only Noise (2011), Pomegranates (2015) and Sirens (2016). Since 2011, he has embarked on multiple explorative directions, performing a five-hour improvisational concert at MoMA PS1[2] and releasing a large volume of experimental recordings through his label, Other People, including works by Lydia Lunch, Pierre Bastien, John Wall and Lucretia Dalt. He scored Jacques Audiard's Dheepan (winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2015)[3] and Pablo Larrain's 2020 film, Ema. Jaar is half of the band Darkside (Psychic, 2013) and has released two albums under the alias Against All Logic.[4]
Nicolás Jaar | |
|---|---|
 Nicolas Jaar live at Rex Club in Paris | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | A.A.L., Against All Logic, Nico |
| Born | January 10, 1990 New York City, New York, US |
| Genres | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | nicolasjaar |
Biography
Jaar was born in New York to Chilean artist and architect Alfredo Jaar and Chilean mother Evelyne Meynard. "Jaar ascribes the melancholy in his music to the time when he moved at the age of 2 with his mother from New York to Chile."[5] In 2007, he met Gadi Mizrahi and Zev Eisenberg who ran the legendary Marcy parties in Brooklyn, New York. After hearing his early works, Mizrahi suggested 17 year-old Jaar put a 4/4 kick drum underneath his largely experimental compositions. This was Jaar's first foray into dance music, documented in his first release on Mizrahi's label Wolf & Lamb, entitled The Student. "Back then, Mizrahi says, everything D.J.'s were playing was 128 beats per minute. The stuff he was doing was almost half that speed."[6]
Jaar spent four years in the NY underground dance scene, crafting rough, hip hop influenced house music (like early singles Love You Gotta Lose Again and Don't Believe the Hype). During this time, Jaar made two songs where he sang in his native Spanish ("Mi Mujer" and "El Bandido"). Jaar did not intend for them to come out as they were made as jokes to make his mother laugh and dance. He changed his mind in 2010, as he felt the songs were his way of answering what he deemed as exploitative sampling of Latin American culture by non-Latin DJs.
He released his debut album, Space Is Only Noise, in January 2011 to critical acclaim[7] and four stars from The Guardian.[8] It was ranked #1 album of the year by Resident Advisor, Mixmag, and Crack Mag. Jaar toured the album for three years with guitarist Dave Harrington (later of Darkside) and keyboardist Will Epstein. Jaar was voted # 1 Live Act on Resident Advisor for the three years he toured the record.[9]
In 2012, he debuted a live concept called From Scratch, where, in front of a live audience, he sampled records he had bought that day. The first iteration happened in Queens, New York at MOMA PS1; it was a five-hour concert with collaboration from Will Epstein, videographer Ryan Staake, dancer Lizzie Feidelson and singer Sasha Spielberg. Jaar has also performed From Scratch in Boulder, Colorado, and Montréal, Quebec.
On May 18, 2012 Nicolas Jaar made his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix debut,[10] which was voted Radio 1's Essential Mix Of The Year of 2012.[11]
On October 4, 2013, the debut album from Darkside, Jaar's project with longtime collaborator Dave Harrington, was released to critical acclaim and a 9.0 score on Pitchfork.[12] The band toured the record for the entirety of 2014.[13]
In February 2015, Jaar released an ambient and noise record entitled Pomegranates, which was described as sounding "like broken Middle Eastern instruments half-playing a modal melody amid bursts of hiss"[14][15] Later that year, Jaar scored the soundtrack to Dheepan, a thriller by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard about a family of Sri Lankan refugees living in the suburbs of Paris. It was the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2015.[3]
His second studio album, Sirens, was released in September 2016. Rolling Stone named it the #1 Electronic Album of the year.[16] A deluxe version was released in December 2017, containing three new tracks interspersed throughout the album.
At some stage in 2018 Jaar added a tilde over the letter a in his first name, in order to emphasise the last syllable. Nicolas became Nicolás.
Jaar co-produced most of FKA Twigs's second studio album, Magdalene, released in October 2019.
In 2020, Jaar released three albums; 2017-2019 in February (under his Against All Logic alias), Cenizas in March, and Telas in July.
Other People
Jaar founded New York-based imprint Other People. It has published music from Lydia Lunch, John Wall, Pierre Bastien, Tomaga, DJ Slugo, William Basinski, VTGNIKE, Lucretia Dalt, Nikita Quasim, 12z, Sary Moussa and Terepa collective which consisted of Kouhei Matsunaga, Laurel Halo, Lucrecia Dalt, Rashad Becker, Charlotte Collin, Grégoire Simon and Julia Holter. Other People has also featured the visual & audio work of visual artists Africanus Okokon and Maziyar Pahlevan.
In 2016, Other People launched THE NETWORK, a web of 111 fictional radio stations done in collaboration with visual artists Jena Myung and Maziyar Pahlevan.[17] In 2017, THE NETWORK became a book, published by PRINTED MATTER in NY.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [18] | ||||||
| 2011 | Space Is Only Noise
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— | ||||
| 2015 | Pomegranates
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— | ||||
| 2016 | Nymphs
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— | ||||
| 2016 | Sirens
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164 | ||||
| 2020 | Cenizas | — | ||||
Telas
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Compilations
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Edits LP |
|
Extended plays
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2008 | The Student
|
| 2009 | Democracy EP: New Friends Vol. 2 (Soul Keita featuring Nicolas Jaar)
|
| 2010 | Marks & Angles
|
A Time for Us / Mi Mujer
| |
Love You Gotta Lose Again
| |
Remixes Vol. 1
| |
| 2011 | Nico's Bluewave Edits (as Nico)
|
Don't Break My Love
| |
| 2015 | Nymphs II
|
Nymphs III
| |
Singles
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Russian Dolls
|
Wouh
| |
| 2015 | Fight (Nymphs IV)
|
Soundtracks
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Dheepan
|
| 2019 | Ema
|
Remixes
| Year | Artist | Track | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | No Regular Play | "Owe Me" | Nicolas Jaar Mix |
| 2010 | Azari & III | "Into the Night" | Nicolas Jaar Remix |
| DJ T. | "Gorilla Hug" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Ellen Allien | "Flashy Flashy" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts | "Walking The Pattern" | (unreleased) | |
| Kasper Bjørke | "Heaven" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Maceo Plex | "Gravy Train" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Matthew Dear | "You Put a Smell On Me" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| The Bees | "Winter Rose" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| 2011 | Architecture in Helsinki | "W.O.W" | Nicolas Jaar Remix |
| Ceo | "Illuminata" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Sneaky Sound System | "Big" | Nicolas Jaar's Always By Your Side Version | |
| When Saints Go Machine | "Fail Forever" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| 2012 | Cat Power | "Cherokee" | Nicolas Jaar Remix |
| Chet Faker | "Terms and Conditions" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| Shlohmo | "Rained the Whole Time" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| 2013 | Brian Eno | "Lux" | Nicolas Jaar Remix |
| Grizzly Bear | "Sleeping Ute" | Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
| 2014 | Kanye West | "Blood on the Leaves"[21] | (unreleased) |
| 2015 | Florence and the Machine | "What Kind of Man" | Nicolas Jaar Remix |
| Lydia Lunch | "American Invasion" | Weasel Walter and Nicolas Jaar Remix | |
Edits
| Year | Artist | Track | Title | Release notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Bailey & Bridges | "Come and Get It" | Come N Get It | Edits LP |
| Dave Brubeck Quartet | "Calcutta Blues" | Mini Calcutta | Edits LP | |
| Michael Jackson | "Billie Jean" | Nico's Rework | Free download via Wolf+Lamb | |
| New Order | "Blue Monday" | The Beach | Edits LP | |
| Nina Simone | "Feeling Good" | Nico's Feelin Good | Edits LP | |
| Grateful Dead | "Shakedown Street" | Shakedown | Edits LP | |
| The Searchers | "Love Potion No. 9" | Stay in Love | Edits LP | |
| 2011 | Mike & The Censations | "There's Nothing I Can Do About It" | What My Last Girl Put Me Through | Nico’s Bluewave Edits |
| Missy Elliott | "Work It" | Work It (Nico's Bluewave Edit) | Nico’s Bluewave Edits | |
| The Blow | "Hey Boy" | Hey Boy (Nico's Bluewave Edit) | Nico’s Bluewave Edits | |
| 2014 | The Hellen Hollins Singers | "Consolation" | Consolation (Nicolas Jaar Edit) | Free download via Other People |
Unreleased edits
| Year | Artist | Track | Title | Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Geraldine Hunt | "Can't Fake the Feeling" | Nico's Edit | Get the Curse podcast |
| Mulatu Astatke | "Yèkèrmo Sèw" | Nico's Edit | Get the Curse podcast | |
| Stretch | "Why Did Ya Do It" | Nico's Edit | Get the Curse podcast | |
| 2010 | Tinariwen | Amassakoul 'N' Ténéré | Nicolas Jaar Edit | BSR Radio mix |
| 2011 | Nicolas Jaar | "Materials" | Nico's Bluewave Edit | XLR8R Podcast 184 |
| The Enticers | "Thief" | Nicolas Jaar Live Set Edit | XLR8R Podcast 184 | |
| Wendy Rene | "After Laughter Comes Tears" | Nicolas Jaar Edit | XLR8R Podcast 184 | |
| 2012 | LaShun Pace | "It's Me Oh Lord (Acapella Praise)" | Nicolas Jaar Edit | BBC's The Essential Mix |
| Luca C & Brigante | "Lucio" | Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington Edit | ||
| NSYNC | "It Makes Me Ill" | Nicolas Jaar Edit | BBC's The Essential Mix | |
| The Electric Prunes | "Holy Are You" | There Is No God Edit | BBC's The Essential Mix | |
| The Grass Roots | "Let's Live For Today" | Learn to Live Edit | BBC's The Essential Mix | |
| Vera November | "Last Night Together" | You're Coming Back Edit | BBC's The Essential Mix | |
| 2017 | Obbatuké | "Elegua" | Nicolas Jaar Edit | Departamento DJ set |
| Piero | "Mi Viejo" | Nicolas Jaar Edit | Performed live on South America tour | |
Other tracks
| Year | Track | Date | Release details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | New York | December 23, 2009 | Unreleased, Modyfier's Process 083 |
| 2009 | Deleuze's Will | February 13, 2009 | "Extraction" on AirDrop Records |
| Disco Loco | December 23, 2009 | Unreleased, Get The Curse podcast | |
| El Bandido | March 8, 2009 | "Significant Others" on Wolf + Lamb Records | |
| La Bohème | May 5, 2009 | Unreleased, MWT Soul Clap Podcast | |
| Little Seth | December 23, 2009 | Unreleased, Get The Curse podcast | |
| Love Teacher | October 30, 2009 | "Snuggle & Slap" on Circus Company | |
| Your Waltz | October 30, 2009 | "Snuggle & Slap" on Circus Company | |
| 2010 | Dubliners | November 4, 2010 | "Inès" on Clown and Sunset |
| Goin' Bad (with Soul Keita) | November 4, 2010 | "Inès" on Clown and Sunset | |
| John the Revelator | July 29, 2010 | Self-released | |
| Now Listen | November 30, 2010 | Unreleased, Beats in Space mix | |
| Marcy | February 16, 2010 | Unreleased, BSR Radio mix | |
| Mwashah | February 16, 2010 | Unreleased, BSR Radio mix | |
| Show Me The Way To The Fire (Tired of the Smoke) | October 7, 2010 | Unreleased, Breezeblock mix | |
| Tribute to My Mother | November 4, 2010 | "Inès" on Clown and Sunset | |
| You Are The Cure For My | November 30, 2010 | Unreleased, Beats in Space mix | |
| 2011 | Avalanche (Tribute to Leonard Cohen) | February 8, 2011 | XLR8R Podcast 184 |
| Can't See What Is Burning There | March 1, 2011 | "DJ-Kicks: Wolf + Lamb vs. Soul Clap" on !K7 Records | |
| 2012 | And I Say (featuring Scout LaRue & Will Epstein) | January, 2012 | Self-released |
| Encore | March 31, 2012 | Free download on Clown and Sunset site | |
| Ishmael (with Will Epstein) | November 19, 2012 | "Don't Break My Love" on Clown and Sunset | |
| Never Have I Ever (with Dave Harrington & Will Epstein) | November 19, 2012 | "Don't Break My Love" on Clown and Sunset | |
| Play the Drums for Me | November 12, 2012 | "Get Lost V Mixed by Acid Pauli" on Crosstown Rebels | |
| The Ego (with Theatre Roosevelt) | November 23, 2012 | Self-released | |
| What's the Name | June 15, 2012 | Unreleased, Sonar Lab in Barcelona | |
| 2013 | Break My Love | September 2, 2013 | "Trust" on Other People |
| Marquises | July 1, 2013 | "Sunset of a Clown, Vol. 2" on Clown and Sunset | |
| Take Me Out Of The Dark Rain | July 1, 2013 | Unreleased, DJ Set at Clown & Sunset Takeover, Boiler Room | |
| 2014 | The Boy Who Asked Too Much | September 9, 2014 | "Work" on Other People |
| The President's Answering Machine | September 9, 2014 | "Work" on Other People | |
Mixes
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Live at the Marcy Hotel |
| 2010 | Resident Advisor 211
|
| 2011 | XLR8R Podcast 184
|
| 2012 | Live at Sonar, Barcelona
|
| 2012 | BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
|
| 2013 | Boiler Room NYC, Clown & Sunset Takeover
|
| 2013 | OUR WORLD
|
| 2015 | Resident Advisor 500
|
| 2016 | The Network on NTS Radio
|
| 2017 | TRANSITION, Boiler Room Aviv
|
Against All Logic discography
Studio albums
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 2012–2017
|
| 2020 | 2017–2019
|
Extended plays
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Issue #9
|
Singles
| Year | Details |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Stand Up / So Far
|
You Are the One
| |
| 2015 | I Never Dream
|
Rave on You
| |
| 2020 | Illusions of Shameless Abundance
|
References
- "Nicolas Jaar". IMDb. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
- "MoMA PS1, Pitchfork Present Nicolas Jaar in NYC". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
- "At Cannes Film Festival, 'Dheepan' Wins Palme d'Or". nytimes.com. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
- "Against All Logic: 2017–2019". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
- Rubin, Mike (March 9, 2012), "Between Semesters, Digital Innovation", The New York Times, retrieved April 21, 2015
- Ferguson, WM (October 11, 2013), "Nicolas Jaar Tests the Limits of Dance Music", The New York Times, retrieved April 21, 2015
- "Album Reviews: Nicolas Jaar: Space Is Only Noise". Pitchfork. February 17, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
- Tony Naylor (March 12, 2011). "Nicolas Jaar is the renaissance man of electronic music | Music". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
- "RA Poll: Top 20 live acts of 2013". Resident Advisor. December 11, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- Ravens, Chal; Gregorsky, Mikael (photographer) (May 21, 2012). "Nicolas Jaar's BBC Essential Mix". Dummy Mag. Retrieved May 23, 2012.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "BBC iPlayer – BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix: Radio 1's Essential Mix Of The Year 2012. Nicolas Jaar". Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- "Album Reviews: DARKSIDE – Psychic". Pitchfork. October 7, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- "Daniel Pinchbeck talks to Darkside's Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington". Electronic Beats. January 13, 2014.
- Mark Richardson, Pomegranates review Pitchfork Media, July 8, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- Evan Minsker, "Nicolas Jaar Releases Free Album Pomegranates" Pitchfork Media, June 24, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
- Murray, Christopher R. Weingarten,David Turner,Andy Beta,Andy Battaglia,Arielle Castillo,Nick; Stone, Rolling (December 16, 2016). "20 Best EDM and Electronic Albums of 2016". Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- "Music:Nicolas Jaar Announces Mysterious Online Radio Network". The Fader. August 30, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
- "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 40, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- Monroe, Jazz (March 11, 2020). "Nicolás Jaar Announces New Album Cenizas, Shares New Song "Sunder": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- "Cenizas, by Nicolas Jaar". Nicolas Jaar. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- FILM, LACMA (November 11, 2014). "Picturing Barbara Kruger directed by Pippa Bianco". Vimeo.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicolas Jaar. |
- Official website
- Nicolas Jaar discography at Discogs
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