By sweeneykovar | September 21st, 2010
First starting out as a DJ for the world-renowned Project Blowed open-mic, Ras_G eventually purchased an MPC and spent the earlier part of the 2000s honing his skills. The last few years has seen Ras catapult in prominence, touring the world with his sounds and becoming a mainstay of the Los Angeles beat scene through his involvement with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint and local indie powerhouse record store Pooh Bah Records.
Ras_G’s El-Alylien, released on cassette and digital formats only through Leaving Records, is a journey through space made up of rotund bass lines, glitchy drums and out-of-this-world sound effects. The end result is jarring, but that’s what Ras is trying to do — open people’s perception to what music can be and where it can take them.
It’s fitting that a few tracks in the EP contain dialogue from a Sun-Ra interview, as one can draw several parallels between Ras’ own philosophy and style to that of the seminal avant-garde musician.