Jimmy Edgar
'Color Strip'
Warp/Inertia

Jimmy Edgar is a 19-year-old wunderkind from Detroit who, after two prior EP releases for Warp, has finally released his debut LP for the label. 'Color Strip,' seen as purely technical achievement, would be quite an astounding achievement for any electronic producer at any time of their career, and to have it come from someone so young is pretty gob-smacking. The album is possessed of the crisp, sharp edits and rhythmical stuttering found in much contemporary r'n'b, though unlike most artists of the genre Edgar only features vocals on a couple of tracks. Sung, I am guessing, by Jimmy Edgar himself, the words never take precedence over the music which is thankful because the lyrics he uses are kinda stupid. This is a double-edged sword, however, as there is a definite sense that something vital is missing in Edgar's music like a void that perhaps a strong vocal presence could fill. There is no doubting his talents as a producer; he manages to exert a complete sheen of professionalism through his compositions, and at many turns he displays a knack for some exceptional beat programming that would leave many producers twice his age looking positively inept. This being said, there is still an often depressing regularity and lack of progressive thrust to many of the tracks, and at times Edgar seems to be far too caught up in trying to sound tricky than creating a genuinely fleshed out and carefully considered piece of music. And while I do have a complete fondness for the 808 drum-machine, Edgar saturates his palette with it to the point of sopping.

In the end Jimmy Edgar is still very young, and if 'Color Strip' is simply the starting point for his career then we have only to wait before he delivers something truly magnificent.

Jack Wilde