Geometry October 17, 2000

Manchester, England’s Jega returns with a confident, striking second album that moves from fidgety electro beatitudes to moody atmospheric introspection. With increased mastery of his equipment, and perhaps less of a need to assert so many ideas at once, ‘Geometry’ is a much deeper, more thematic record than his 1998 debut Spectrum.

Jega is just one man, Dylan Nathan, an architecture-school classmate of Richard James (Aphex Twin) and Mike Paradinas (µ-ZIQ). He shares with them many of the same musical concerns, but didn’t get around to releasing his work commercially as quickly as they did. He released his first EP in 1996 on Skam (original home to Boards of Canada), and in 1998 released Spectrum on Paradinas’s Planet µ label (and, later, Matador).

Spectrum was a jarring view across the landscape of electronic music, more rollercoaster than Sunday drive, resulting in the cloying label “drill n bass.” In contrast, Geometry flows smoothly and more melodically from vista to vista, merging staccato 808 rhythmic workouts, digital swing, analog atmospherics, jittery electro-hop, and myriad other sounds into a dark and rather melancholy work.

Unlike Spectrum, Geometry will be released simultaneously worldwide, and Jega will be making numerous visits to the US for live appearances throughout the year. Dylan is also a licensed pilot, BMX fanatic, computer hacker, and a professional animator, currently working on a computer-animated video for the title track.

Spectrum March 3, 1999

Following a series of releases for Manchester’s Skam imprint (original home of Boards of Canada), ‘Spectrum’ marks the debut Jega release for Mike Paradinas’ Planet µ label. Jega, aka Dylan Nathan, has hit upon a genuinely fuckup-up drum and bass/breakbeat/jungle hybrid that has blown minds eerywhere. One of 1998’s most revered electronic records is now available in North America with two bonus tracks (“Unity Gain” and “Naem”) replacing the track “DMC” that has been removed for sample reasons. “Unity Gain” is actually a remix of a 2 Lone Swordsmen track (“Black Commandments” from “A Bag Of Blue Sparks”) that ended up never getting used on a release.