AyGeeTee is that rare bird; an electronic musician who has an immediately recognizable sound. I know this because I'm one of those incorrigible people who "grab" MP3s from all over the web and frequently end up with numerous files having a name, but no artist listed. AyGeeTee is a prime offender, with a lot of one-word, hard-to-search titles, like "Famous" or "Insider", for example, from his current Soundcloud. But experience has taught me not to worry when grabbing AyGeeTee’s un-tagged files, because his music has an unmistakable sound all his own which I can instantly recognize. I honestly can't think of any higher compliment I could give an artist working in the faceless genre of instrumental electronic music.
AyGeeTee is reclusive Londoner Andrew G. Thomson. He is one of an elite group of outsiders who doggedly follow their different inner drummer, alongside other hard-to-classify artists like Jono Mi Lo and the artist-formerly-known-as TEAMS (now Shanti) who go back to the beginnings of the wave of 2010, and whose work drew on both chillwave and witch house, but transcends genre. Check out AyGeeTee’s extensive back catalog of releases on his Bandcamp.
Following up last year’s Fools, Haunted Hits accentuates AyGeeTee’s range. From neo-Detroit dirty techno on “No Scorn Ever”, to tribal trip-hop of “Blessed”, to bliss-gaze of “September in Summer”, it’s a richly varied album. Check out the ten-minute plus epic "Can't Keep My Eyes", with its’ sparkling bloom around the 3:30 mark; high audio magic.
His throbbing, beautiful mixture of noise and percussion is utterly distinct amid the sea of undifferentiated future funk, dubstep, trap and house flooding the internets. The combination of noise and beauty is a theme here at anothercountyheard; it ties so many of our perennial musical obsessions together, from Throbbing Gristle and My Bloody Valentine and Sweet Trip, to Fennesz and Animal Collective. The ever-present wash of rhythmic noise under the majestic melodies and pounding tribal beats place AyGeeTee's music firmly in the fine company of the aforementioned artists, and on the short list of anotherocuntyheard favorites. It’s music deserving of the appellation ‘art’.
Haunted Hits is not a best-of package at all, but a compilation of several new tracks and some loose ends. It’s available from AMDISCS, not free, but absolutely worth paying for. Jump to their page to purchase.
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