Jimmy Edgar

Jimmy Edgar is an American conceptual artist and sound designer from Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by minimalism, Yves Klein and Immaterialism, early in their career Jimmy released two hip-hop glitch albums under the names Michaux and Kristuit Salu and Morris Nightingale. Their first solo album '' Color Strip'' (2006) came out on Warp Records after they signed to the label at age 18. This release was followed by '' XXX'' (2010) on !K7 Records in 2010. After their last solo LP ''Majenta'' (2012), Jimmy has released several EPS on Jimmys own imprint New Reality Now, often designing the album covers with Pilar Zeta.

Jimmy is an active conceptual and generative artist in the fine art NFT community.

Early life

James "Jimmy" Edgar was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Roseville, Michigan. Raised in Detroit, Jimmy developed an early interest in music and learned multiple instruments at a young age, including string instruments, saxophone, and percussion/drum set. They learned songwriting and piano from several musicians he met at Baptist churches in Detroit. Experimenting with electronic music by age ten, around age fifteen they started performing at Detroit raves. As a teenager they also began playing the drums in experimental bands and making tape recordings. Most of these recordings, consisting mainly of pitch bent tape loops, tape splicing, field recordings, and noise tracks, were the beginning of their experimentation with the technical aspects of production.

Art career

2021-present

Jimmy's first NFT artwork titled 'DROOL OF VENUS' was sold on March 17, 2021 on Foundation. Their work spans conceptual ideas, generative digital works & 3D animations. His artwork UNREAL, which sold for 2.441 Ethereum, was a single majenta pixel. Works that followed included OBSOLETE, the black anodized Dyson vacuum cleaner.

In 2022, Jimmy released OBJECTZ, a collection of 3396 images. Each artwork is a "unique digital construction", generated in a web browser. The website states "the process is performed by Javascript and features the iconic elements of JIMMY’s artwork."

Zora states "Edgar first began experimenting with generative processes in his originating project, OPTIONZ. He states that it was inspired by generative process: having a bunch of layers, throwing it into a program, randomizing it, and seeing what comes out the other end."

Music career

2004–08: Warp EPs and ''Color Strip''

Jimmy’s first release on Warp Records was the 2004 4-track EP ''Access Rhythm'', which had a more "hip-hop sound" than his previous albums. ''Access Rhythm'' was shortly followed by the 6-track EP ''Bounce Make Model'', which according to Allmusic, "first crystallized the erotic electro-funk sound for which dgarwould become well known." After touring in support of the two EPs, Edgar began working on their debut with Warp, a process that would take him two years. According to Edgar, their goal with the album was to "capture the essence of Detroit." It was made using software Edgar had customized by self, then recorded to analog tape. They released the full-length album as '' Color Strip'' in February 2006, to a positive critical reception. Allmusic called it "breathtakingly original," praising the album's "sleazy urban feel that combined techno, electro, R&B, glitch, and hip-hop influences." Pitchfork Media wrote in a review that "Edgar comes across as a committed student, absorbing twenty-five years of electronic music and figuring out how to integrate and mold the history into something that sits comfortably in the now."

2010–12: ''XXX'' and ''Majenta''

Edgar's solo album '' XXX'' came out June 2010 on K7 Records. Andy Kellman of Allmusic wrote that Edgar's increased use of analog equipment in the recording process "refines his smutty neo-electro." Around that time Edgar continued to tour internationally, notably in cities such as Tokyo, Zagreb, Istanbul, Athens, Tallinn, Moscow, Turin, London, and Berlin. In 2012, Edgar released the solo album ''Majenta,'' on Hotflush Recordings. In a positive review of ''Majenta'' for the BBC
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