Bryan Hollon, better known by his musical handle Boom Bip, is probably recognized for two drastically different sounds:
abstract hip-hop from his early Mush Records days, and his
Mercury Prize-nominated Neon Neon collaboration with Gruff Rhys. Add to that a new inspiration:
black magic from the turn of the 19th century. What does that sound like?
Let Boom Bip walk you through his new album, Zig Zaj. Step behind the deep red velvet curtains for a peek at the history of Boom Bip.
Starting as so many artists seem to, Bryan Hollon was first in a few rock bands going back to his middle school years, but he had been interested in hip hop for a long time. When he got enough money to buy turntables, he did so, and started spinning hip-hop and downtempo. While DJing,
Hollon met Adam Drucker (Doseone) and Robert Curcio (of Mush Records), and thus Boom Bip began as a hip-hop producer and DJ. His first recording was the first record released by Mush Records, the 1998 EP
The Low End Sequence (sample:
Boom Bip & DJ Osiris - Voodoo Science [YouTube audio]).
In a couple years, Boom Bip had collaborated with Doesone on Bip's first album,
Circle (
The Bird Catcher [YTa];
The Bird Catcher's Oath [YTa];
The Bird Catcher's Return [YT video];
album streaming [Grooveshark]).
This album marked the shift of Mush Records from hobby to proper label, and
John Peel had them on his show in 2002 (
Me and People, Fence Hopper, Birdcatcher's Return [YTa]). Of this album, Peel even
likened the sound of the record to Captain Beefheart.
Two years later, it was a new century, and Boom Bip signed to a new label for his new album. Moving across the pond, Hollon signed on with
Lex Records, which was an appendage of Warp Records at this time. Lex gave Boom Bip wider distribution, ensuring a broader audience for this new project:
Seed to Sun (
U R Here [YT, odd video];
Awaiting An Accident [YTa];
Mannequin Hand Trapdoor I Reminder [YTa];
album stream [MySpace]). This album, and the tour to promote it, were
the first times Boom Bip had moved beyond strictly samples, creating sounds on the fly with a range of items, from turntables to a theremin. The album was extended with two EPs (
From Right to Left and
Morning & A Day), which were combined as
Corymb, with two new songs. This new collection featured a rare Boards of Canada remix (
Last Walk Around Mirror Lake [YT, paired nicely with slow motion sky diving]) and a wicked remix by Venetian Snares (
The Unthinkable ft. Buck 65 [YTa]), to pick out two tracks.
Boom Bip's next album featured payback of sorts from Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals. Hollon remixed a track (
Father Father [YTa]) on SFA's remix album,
Phantom Phorce, on the condition that Rhys would lend his vocals to a Boom Bip track, which he did on the track
Do's and Dont's (YTa). The album was
Blue Eyed in the Red Room (
album stream [Grooveshark]), in which
Hollon relaxed, looping less and playing live instruments more:
Seed to Sun I used several live instruments, but usually looped sections and sequenced them out. This was because I was wanted everything so perfect and I was not able to keep time with a click track for 5 minutes on each instrument. With Blue Eyed I was able to do that and also allow a bit more freedom with the changes within the song. I was not concerned about DJs being able to spin this album. With Seed to Sun I still had that in mind. I just wanted to do a piece that people could enjoy listening to in any situation.
And then things shifted for Boom Bip. Something happened, and his next release was, as put in
a Pitchfork review, "
an album of driving electronic pop infused with Krauty mechanical pulsations, clubby, night riding synthesizers, and the sort of crystal-clear dynamic shifts Hollon has shied away from until now."
Sacchrilege (
album stream [MySpace]) came out in 2007 on Lex Records, and would not be the end of the Krauty sounds from Boom Bip.
Rhys and Hollon continued collaborating, working on
a concept album about the life of John DeLorean. They called themselves Neon Neon, and their album,
Stainless Style (
I Lust U feat. Cate Le Bon [YT video];
I Told Her on Alderaan / Trick for Treat [YT video];
album stream [MySpace]) made the
2008 Mercury Prize short-list (they lost to Elbow, for the album
The Seldom Seen Kid).
Now it's 2011, and Boom Bip is bac, and it's time to get haunted. After
delving into the library below the Magic Castle in Hollywood, Hollon emerged with magic on his mind, naming his album with a nod to
the magician Zan Zig. You can
stream the whole album and read Hollon's track-by-track comments,
listen to his "album parallels mix" (tracks that inspired his tracks), and
read his list of five favorite uses of magicians in music.
posted by Shepherd at 1:36 PM on October 24, 2011