A Sol Mechanic

Hailing from the southern California party town of Isla Vista / Santa Barbara, A Sol Mechanic (David Blazer) produces addicting sun-drenched, smoke-swirling experimental and instrumental hip-hop beats. Keep an eye out, and I’m confident you’ll see this talented beatmaker vastly expand his fanbase in the near future. If you’re in the LA area, treat yourself to one of his upcoming shows here.

Track analysis

Key: B-flat minor

Smooth, luscious, dampening filters on the mid-range synths combine with deep, full, reassuring basslines to deliver a breathy calming experience. Add the sexy claps, snaps, and abrupt breaks, and you have the pleasure of a track to sink peacefully into. Enjoy… - A Waking Dreamer

A Sol Mechanic’s latest offering comes in the form of a laid back bassy groove sampling Radiohead and A.I. Like all his tracks, progressive and experimental analogue production feature heavily and as the track seemingly begins to curtail there is an element of toying with the arrangement; double bass claps and reverberated synth bursts ensure this holds your attention ‘till the very end. - The Venom Blog

A Sol Mechanic reminds me of Gorillaz on The Fall. It’s more trip-hop than the likes of “Detroit” or “Shy-town,” but what leads me to the comparison is the raw drum and bass effect that I feel drives “Cookie.”

Wait for the synths to hit at the 1:31 mark. Life just makes more sense at that moment. After a few months of straight club music, this is a nice change of pace.

Sol’s a talented LA producer who crafts chill electronic music that works in just about every setting. Be sure to check out all of his musical adventures on SoundCloud and help share the good vibes. - Indie Shuffle

"Apple Slices" is one of the most recent tracks dished out by A Sol Mechanic. ASM, or David Blazer, is an experimental trip hop and hip-hop producer residing in California. If you have been coasting through his work, you will notice his music touches the many ends of different genres with the experimental aspect. Last time, he left us off at with the dark, hard hittin' rap beat track "Skylab Gangsta", then he reels everything back in with the smooth, improvisational groovy beats with "Apple Slices". An improv style piano is looped throughout the duration of the track, with a kick and snare beat. There is minimal effects and sounds introduced into the song, which makes "Apple Slices" surprisingly simple, elegant and nasty (in a good way) all at the same time. With the addition of newly bought over-the-ear headphones, I am most glad that this particular track is the first song to initiate my hearing aids. I can finally feel all the interwoven intricacies once again. - Earmilk

Saddle up and buckle yourself down, Los Angeles beatsmith A Sol Mechanic (David Blazer) has recently released his latest EP To Knowing. This probably explains his rather large gap of inactivity, but if it's for the sake of music, I'm all for it. For once his immediate previous work showed hints of his upcoming material, such as "I Still Love You", which was released a few months ago. Today, he's back boasting a four-piece EP filled with his signature experimental fusion style organic downtempo. With every EP release, ASM marks the beginning of a new chapter for himself as a producer. He has a few EPs and albums under his belt with an arsenal of stand-alone tracks that has been propelling him to the forefront of experimental electronic. From off-beat tracks to heavy droning, he sways all over the musical spectrum from a single focal point. Where is he now on this spectrum? To Knowing has the answers.

If you have been following ASM, you know what to expect, such as the unexpected. This particular EP takes a departure from clean-feeling of B-Words and the eclecticism of Fuzzy Feeling. To Knowingis on an entirely different level than the two, resonating a combination of polished hip-hop beats with dashes of organic ambient and natural sounds all tossed into an outer-space environment. The opening track, "Maroon Bell" opens with this statement in full force which will quickly absorb you into another world. - Earmilk

Currently based in Los Angeles, A Sol Mechanic has been described as a ‘Hip Hop Sigur Ros’ for songs like nøir bløøming. Other ones, like Loquat are too dense and vibrant to stand basic comparison. Sol Mechanic makes beats that are shuffling, melodies that are often buried, but once you unearth them, you are hooked for hours. Beautiful music, high hopes for him in the future. - Honey Over Everything

Slick, left-field beats from LA producer, A Sol Mechanic.

Highrise Royalty dishes out power to the powerless and conjures images of a concrete community. It’s proud, defiant and full of attitude; but not the aggressive kind. This is ghetto glory. - Repeat Button

A write up on A Sol Mechanic’s hazy new just pick me up EP could likely be boiled down to whatever platitudes about genre-bending indie music are already populating any number of reviews sprinkled throughout the catacombs of the internet. So rather than cutting and pasting from one of my past poorly-worded attempts to make sense of colliding influences, better to describe how the Los Angeles producer/vocalist’s sunny, gauzy new body of work deftly creates a mood.

Culling from hip-hop (particularly the sounds of his city, both in its laid-back rap roots and current beat scene), soul, jazz, and psychedelic pop, just pick me up is music for a low and lazy day, beautiful and often formless in a way that still satisfies. The EP’s short songs (only one is longer than three minutes) feel like hazy transmissions from memory, warm and distant. There’s still room for A Sol Mechanic to flesh out his formula and expand the vision, but the foundation is laid gorgeously on highlights like “feels like us.”

Stream below and relax a bit. - Pigeons and Planes

LA label/collective Stereocure has been steadily growing its catalog with a string of forward-thinking releases over the past year; its latest offering is Emotion Terrace, a full-length from beatmaker A Sol Mechanic (a.k.a. David Blazer). From that LP, we've pulled the blissful "1992," on which Blazer harnesses the beat-focused sound of his LA contemporaries while tweaking the crunchy boom-bap with a slew of playfully bouncing vocal samples and a calm, sun-drenched vibe. "1992" and the rest of Blazer's Emotion Terrace record can be downloaded for free over on Stereocure's Bandcamp. - XLR8R

Lauren Laverne selects A Sol Mechanic's "1992" for her program - August 20, 2013 - BBC Radio

I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with the LA based record label Stereocure, who gave me better insight into just how deeply they find intimacy with music. It's not just an undying love for the object that is music, but an all out motive to succeed within the industry. "Stereocure is a collective of musicians, writers, and artists dedicated to a vision of contemporary music culture that is inspired by a progressive and creative spirit." Even their description makes me faithful in the next few years of artistry.

Today I bring you the first release off of his forthcoming untitled EP, "Take it Slow," with the full project slated to release on July 22nd. This being his third release and his first full-length vinyl release slated for January 2015, A Sol Mechanic’s music often derives from the grass roots hip hop instrumentalism that has lasted for years. This premiere is a slab of piano complemented by an easy-listening vocal arrangement, perfect for any breakthrough in one's career. This single, mastered by Conrad Magabo of Cosmic Zoo Studios, epitomizes the A Sol Mechanic sound: "modern jazz harmonies coupled with hip-hop beats and the twist of a future funk mentality."

A Sol Mechanic has already embarked on a slough of shows for the summer of 2014, having already visited the YouBloom Festival in Dublin, Ireland, NXNE in Toronto, Canada, and here are a few upcoming dates just in case your nearby:

7/6 @ Sun Scream @ The Mondrian Rooftop
7/7 @ Silent Barn w/Rioux (DJ Set), Flamingosis, RYV, FLWRS + Maralisa and Real Boy Digital
7/9 @ Silk City w/Flamingosis, Maybewise, David Marston, TBD
7/10 @ Electric Maid w/Imagined Herbal Flows, Harpooner, TBD
7/15 @ The Monarch in San Francisco, CA w/ Kuh Lida, Big Wild,
7/17 @ Fais Do Do in Los Angeles, CA
Enjoy "Take it Slow" and get ready for a fun-filled July. - Earmilk

For those of you looking for some nice easy listening to close out your evening look no further. Just a few days ago A Sol Mechanic dropped the veil on his latest EP ‘just pick me up’ and it is packed to the teeth with lush, laid back lullabies that are the perfection addition to any situation. When I first came across A Sol Mechanic he was churning out nothing but smooth flowing hip hop beats but as time ticks by the style of this talented producer has evolved into a completely different form. This release is the perfect transition from his thumping west coast beats to that of whimsical and melodic vocally driven tracks. All five tracks seamlessly blend into one another, from the opening collaborative track ‘ain’t nobody’s business’ featuring label mate Novelty Daughter to the single ‘Take It Slow’ that has already been garnering a lot of attention on the web. You can grab this release through Stereocure’s Bandcamp via the link below so be sure you don’t sleep on this dazzling EP. - The Dankles

A Sol Mechanic. Just Pick Me Up EP. just press play. nice vibes. Available. free download. at. stereocure.bandcamp.com. enjoy. - Rappamelo