Jimmy Edgar is Warp's most recent signing, a sweet and vulnerable19-year old Caucasian from Detroit who allegedly spent his formativeyears playing Detroit raves alongside Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson andDerrick May. His new EP Access Rhythmproves that Edgar has inherited none of the genius of his culturalforefathers. This EP contains four faceless tracks of largelyinstrumental hip-hop, made specifically for that growing demographic ofclueless, rich, vaguely urban white boys wearing backpacks. JimmyEdgar's music sounds almost identical to his labelmate Scott Herren'sPrefuse 73 project, an uncomfortable similarity which makes the musicall the more excruciating to listen to. It shows a serious lack ofjudgment on the part of Warp Records that Edgar's promo wasn'timmediately tossed into the "sounds like everything else" pile.Promotional material for the EP has the audacity to compare Edgar'stalentless Powerbook fuckery to the Neptunes. On their very worst day,Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo could easily kick this guy's lily-whiteGrosse Pointe ass all the way back to design school. Edgar's clean,angular production tries to achieve some of the same innovation as hisobvious hip-hop influences, but the kid is seriously lost when it comesto creating a beat that is interesting enough to listen to for longerthan 10 seconds. Flip over any Timbaland-produced 12" to theinstrumental side, and you'll hear what Jimmy Edgar wishes he soundedlike, but never will. About his style, Edgar says: "My music has a hugeDetroit Techno influence, but I wanted to go even further beyond that,to the point where it feels literally like Detroit itself." Huh? Ifanyone can figure out what that load of bullshit is supposed to mean,be sure to let me know. On a positive note, it's not too late for JimmyEdgar; he's still young, and there's still time for him to enroll incommunity college or learn a trade.Read More
