Photos by David Goldman
To say Nicolas Jaar had a good year would be a massive understatement. Compared to where he stood one year ago, it was a wildly successful 2011 campaign. The twenty-one year old Brown University student topped Resident Advisor's Top 20 Albums and Top 20 Live Acts earlier this month, not something many other kids his age can say they have accomplished. Hell, there are men twice his age that do not get that kind of recognition. Having had the pleasure of seeing him on my birthday this past March with Orchard Lounge, I really looked forward to his return to Smart Bar on Black Friday. After becoming more familiar with his music and really getting into his album Space Is Only Noise throughout the year, I was even more excited for this show than I was for the one back in March. Jaar even released a new track several weeks before this show called "Don't Break My Love" that is in my humble opinion, one of the finest of 2011. This show only solidified RA's notion that he is one of the premier live acts going in the electronic music scene these days.
My night began at the Aragon Ballroom with Umphrey's McGee and friends. By the time that show was beginning to wrap up however, I was starting to get giddy that it was almost Nico time. I arrived to a PACKED show at Smart Bar. There was a line halfway down the block and Jaar had not even gone on yet. It was very rare to see Smart Bar that crowded at 11:30 on a Friday night. I guess other people also heard about the boy wonder. Compared to the show eight months earlier, I'd say nearly twice as many people showed up this time around. Not surprising considering the hype and acclaim Jaar had collected throughout the year. And rightfully so. There are not many other artists creating such organic-sounding electronic dance music. Nico started the show off with a slow downtempo track, whispering the words "I can feel you when you breathe" into the microphone as he slowly built this beat up. As it continued to grow is slowly translated into one of his earliest songs, "What My Last Girl Put Me Through." Sampling Mike & The Censations' "There's Nothing I Can Do About It," the song began with a simple vocal sample before the drums kicked in and got people on the dance floor swinging. I've enjoyed how he employs his voice as an instrument at the two shows I've attended, using his vocals to stir the mood in the room.
There was a transition and the next track up was "Too Many Kids Finding Rain In The Dust." This version had some extra bass this time around and had a very deep house sound. By this point, people were shaking a bit harder and the floor was starting to get more wet from all the drinks getting spilled. As the show progressed, he continued the sexy deep house motif by dropping a slower version of "Stay In Love" and familiar favorite "Space Is Only Noise If You Can See." When the latter came on, most people jumped when recognized it. "Mi Mujer" and "Don't Break My Love" were also played during this set; I basically got to hear everything I wanted to hear. Nicolas Jaar proved again that he has a bright future in the dance music scene. His live sets are second to none with him sampling baroque pianos, South American percussive elements, old R&B records, and saxophone licks from old jazz records. His music can be eerie, and haunt you sometimes. But no matter the mood, the end result is always the same: you always end up shaking your ass on the dance floor. The kid has style to go along with substance. Now he just needs to hurry up and graduate from college so he can focus on his music full time. The XLR8R podcast in this article paints a pretty good picture of what one of his live sets sound like.
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