‘The Range’ — an electronic one-man act by James Hinton ’10 — is aptly named. He incorporates a diverse collection of eclectic styles, yielding surprising combinations.
Since the Oct. 14 release of his first full-length album “Nonfiction,” Hinton has been showered with critical acclaim. The album was named “Best New Music” in an October Pitchfork review, with the final song, “Metal Swing,” receiving the accolade of “Best New Track” in a September review. “Nonfiction” was named “Stream of the Week” on Dazed Digital, the online version of the British style magazine Dazed & Confused, and Billboard magazine included The Range in “The Best of (College Music Journal) 2013: 10 Bands to Watch.”
Despite this flurry of attention, Hinton said his music remains a “very personal exercise.”
“I like to focus on the interplay between the percussion and the music, specifically tonality and harmony,” he said, adding that he seeks to push these dynamics to their “natural limit.”
This approach is evident in “Nonfiction,” which weaves electronic and acoustic layers around a skeletal, syncopated percussion beat. Repeated loops of stripped-down keyboard chords, skittering synthesized melodies and gyrating basslines ripple in and out of these rhythmic focal points, fusing into what the Billboard article described as “shimmering and unpredictable soundscapes.”
Hinton said his music reflects a “natural evolution of (his) interests,” adding that he hopes listeners will better grasp his views and what was “shaped” by his influences after listening to his music.
He cited two of his key inspirations as footwork — a style of rhythmically complex breakdancing that originated in Chicago — and the jungle movement of the 1990s, which popularized the use of samples, syncopation and synthesizers.
Hinton also said his time at Brown was pivotal in his development as a producer. Though he has played drums since he was 13 years old, “participating in (Brown’s) electronic music program really got me thinking about the internals of the computer and made me embrace new software in a different way than I had,” he said.
He added that by creating each track entirely on his laptop, his music “embraces that person-and-computer interaction and shows appreciation for things you can do with the computer today that you couldn’t in the past.”
The futuristic, science fantasy feel of “Nonfiction” effectively captures this technological progression by blending the celestial with the earthly. Twinkling synthesizers echo and explode over simulated string cadences — a backdrop permeated by the persistent blips and buzzes of a dial tone or a satellite searching for life. Hinton embroiders this symphonic ethereality with R&B and hip-hop downbeats and raw, contorted vocal riffs he has pulled from obscure corners of YouTube.
These complex interactions reflect Hinton’s view that “you can have these harmonic, complicated, classical elements in synthesized music. They’re not inconsistent, even though a lot of people see a divide there,” he said, adding that he seeks to “bridge that gap.”
The numerous threads of sound are difficult to follow individually, especially when Hinton layers time signatures, forcing an immersive listening experience that spills out of the club setting usually associated with electronic music.
Hinton said this versatility was intentional.
“I want people to understand how music that might usually be club-based can also work really well in a headphones setting,” he said.
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