Currently enjoying three new tracks produced by Nem-One

Nem-One is a ridiculously talented producer. For the past twelve years and counting, he’s been producing tracks under a wide range of pseudonyms; you may know him as Nemo Burbank, Professor Falken, Haluk + Cuban, or any number of long-discarded monikers. But the one constant, from the beginning on down, is that he’s always been ahead of the curve.

Back in ’98, when we were both a couple of music nerds going to high school together in Scarborough, Nemo was making music that held its own against tracks by influences like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Autechre. As the years went by, and Nemo’s encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop grew by leaps and bounds, he continued to anticipate the newest underground trends and styles in his music.

The work he’s doing now stands up against anything coming out of today’s underground hip hop scene. I’m admittedly talking about a good friend, so I fully expect you to take that claim with a grain of salt. But even the quickest of listens to his current body of work confirms these assertions and more. Frankly, this guy’s so good at what he does that it might even piss you off.

But that’s not even the most frustrating thing about him. In his adult years, Nemo’s gotten into the habit of going off the radar for months at a time. You’ll try to get in touch with him through whatever obsolete email addresses and phone numbers you might have on file, and you’ll get nothing back.

And then one day, he’ll just surface again with no explanation – not to mention a bunch of new material that’s leaps and bounds ahead of his last batch of work. To be honest, I’ve got a feeling he’s been doing it on purpose.

It was only yesterday that I happened to check one of his blogs on a whim, and I was rewarded with a slew of new posts and a bunch of new material. But it was literally hours later that Nemo decided to shut the blog down until he could make it fully PS3 compatible. I guess that means that once it returns, we’re all going to get trophies for reading it.

Thankfully, even during the downtime, the links to a few of his most recent tracks are still accessible. Take a moment to check out “If U Can,” for example, or “Why U Mad,” or “Where I’m Comin’ From,” all of which feature KTB. Or check out “This is Life, Pt. 2,” featuring P-Money.

I’ve praised and condemned Nem-One in equal measure throughout this post, and yet I haven’t even gotten to the most frustrating thing about him, which is the fact that he’s never managed to achieve the acclaim he deserves for his talents and body of work. Who knows? Maybe it all boils down to a fear of success or something along those lines.

Check out the tracks above, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a shame that this guy’s still a virtually anonymous producer in 2010. Don’t you think we ought to do something about that?

Posted in Currently Enjoying