The Hieroglyphic Being spaceship, piloted by Jamal Moss will soon descend onto Oslo and Jæger for a live show in our basement alongside Øyvind Morken and Prins Thomas as representatives for Rett i Fletta. Jamal Moss’ career is the thing of urban legends. Literally raised on the streets of Chicago, where he would spend the nights in the embrace of various clubbing institutions, all for the sake of a bit of warmth, Chicago’s roots unquestionably, pulse through his veins. His determined musical outlook, started with little more than a drum machine, a rhythmical understanding and a dancers frame of mind, which through the tutelage of local heroes like Adonis and Ron Hardy, both directly and indirectly, he has carved out an unparalleled career. He’s appropriated many different faces, from Africans with Mainframes to Interplanetary Prophets and of course Hieroglyphic Being in his pursuit of engaging with club music at every level from DJ to label-head.
As an artist and DJ he embodies the heritage of this music, always looking to remind the revisionists of the history and origins of this black dance music. As Hieroglyphic being he keeps alive the most exploratory version of Techno’s vision, while his label Mathematics embodies all these elements and more, a definitive voice in electronic music’s echelon for uncompromising, forward-thinking club music.
His discography as an artist is broad and reads like Haruaki Murakami novel, always intriguing, constantly pulling at the thin fibres of club music’s origins awhile taking them unwittingly into new directions, weaving new narratives, that constantly ask, how did we get here. From Africans with Mainframes’ stomping contrapuntal workouts to the mutated Chicago House melodic expressions from his work under his eponymous moniker, there’s a lot to encounter when come across the name Jamal Moss. Thus, it can be a daunting task to approach Moss’ extended discography, but luckily we knew of a man with a record collection that could help us in our endeavour… Enter Prins Thomas. “First of all, I find it really hard to pick favourites out of Jamal’s catalogue. I think a lot of his tracks shines best when in the mix and not played as separate standalone pieces. Describing them is the same, our vocabulary does not have the words needed to describe the sounds contained. So, second best after recording a mix and let the music speak for itself… here’s my random selection, 8 records, I managed to dig out from my very unorganised vinyl walls…”
Interplanetary Prophets – Zero Hour (planet mu 12″)
“As far as I know, the only music to come out of this project, done together with the producer Ital.”
I.B.M. – A music box reflection (creme jak 12″)
“Funky fresh filth that is both impossible to dance to, AND impossible to sit still to.”
The sun god and the myth lives on trio – Cosmic chords one (cejero 12″)
“Downtempo drama that grows from quiet peace… to full on nuclear war over the course of a 12″ side.”
Africans with mainframes – rb-3 from “Comission number 3″(biorhythm 12”)
“Jamal together with occasional sidekick Noleian Reusse. This could almost pass as normal Techno.”
Hieroglyphic Being – “imaginary soundscapes” ALL TRACKS (mathplus 2xlp)
“Jamal showing us there’s yet more sides to him than we know. Quite a few drone pieces and experimental stuff alongside that machine bump and grind that we know him for. Still very grateful he gave me permission to remix one of these tracks for my ‘paradise goulash’ project.”
Mark Forshaw – The fuck (jamal loves his i.b.m. remix)(berceuse heroique 12″)
“For once the it’s actually the original that sounds the most distorted and fucked up thing on this record. Jamal’s remix is like a quite breeze in comparison. Still tough as nails and the one I prefer.”
Modus – Voice of vatikan (the hieroglyphic being experience 14)(marmo music 12″)
“Just realised I’ve been playing this track at the wrong speed. So what I would have described as the sound of angry elephants running across the dance floor now sounds a lot more like snails either fighting or fucking, slowly… still prefer it at 45 though.”