lake j

About

Cadien James (lake j) carried out his first experiments in sound recording in a Chicago basement, with microphones dangling from ceiling rafters and a laptop huffing and puffing overtime. When the results of those experiments became Twin Peaks’ first LP, a reviewer called the recording quality something like unbearable. The critic missed the forest for a sharp aural tree and didn’t see that Cadien and his friends were doing what so many others fail to do: engineering from the heart, making recorded music with their ears rather than their heads or a rule book. In the ten-plus intervening years, Cadien’s creativity and technical skill have reached even more staggering heights. His debut LP as lake j, Dizzy, carries forth all of his curiosity and exploration, the will that leads him to find just-right sounds and give each song a distinct identity, and pairs it with an uncanny sense for rhythm for an album that compels your head to bop; there's no option—it just does. Dizzy's essence: a beat that yearns—steady, constant, and dependable, yet not resigned to chill. Cadien’s breakbeat platform, adorned with Ronnie Lane-ian jangle chords, sparkling harps, and swirling keys, wants to tell you something, crafting cinematic love stories that tie the album's music with an emotional bow. In the 2010s, Cadien and Twin Peaks gave voice to infectious, verbed-out chords. In 2023, he refines this influence, building a world I want to inhabit, and with Dizzy, now we can. — Spencer Tweedy

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