KiloWatts

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James Watts is the mind behind KiloWatts and his many different projects and styles. His work embraces the bulk of electronic genres, including breaks, IDM, techno, and downtempo. His fluency in piano is evident throughout his work, as is his penchant for jazzy riffs, intelligent structure, wistful melodies, and an often cheeky take on the current state and history of electronic music as a whole. His album “Ground State” is out on Native State Records, home to fellow pioneers Bluetech and Shen. It’s a collection of sweaty psychedelic downtempo grooves, churning molasses-thick basslines, and undulating synthetic sonorous mandalas. KiloWatts has albums on Artificial Music Machine that are full of visionary dimensions, fusing together a dexterous knowledge of sound synthesis, deep emotional articulation, and solid melodic intuition. Peppered throughout these monumental statements are releases with class labels such as Harmonious Discord, Thoughtless Music, and his own outlet, KiloWatts Music, that celebrate his adept technical expertise, often bringing a whirlwind of mindblowing digital wizardry in the form of glitches and edits.

He began making music in the early 90s with DOS-based trackers and releasing them on BBSs through the demoscene under an undisclosed moniker. He was a driving force in the foundation of Soulseek Records, a netlabel celebrating independent musicians during a time of heavy backlash from the record industry against filesharing. The label helped show that independent electronic musicians can use filesharing to their advantage by promoting and collaborating with eachother. The label was born among a flurry of netlabels, many which still exist today.

Tagged as:

idm, electronic, downtempo, ambient, chillout
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Leafff wrote:
last week

Does he release -anything- on CD? ;-; By the way, any starting point recommendations?

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funazza wrote:
29 days ago

genius.

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xgeorgx wrote:
last month

Seed is great!!

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17 wrote:
October 2009

Plain Gorgeous. Plain. Gorgeous!

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PositiveTrance wrote:
September 2009

mounement...goa beach vol 8....awesome track dude

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o--O--o wrote:
September 2009

very inventive .. unique new sounds and rhythms

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J-a-P-p-e wrote:
August 2009

Verry cool sound....love it

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aftermgates wrote:
August 2009

This guy makes great music.

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onetense1 wrote:
August 2009

James..............Freakin' Excellent!!!

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Unspeakable wrote:
July 2009

Do not realy dig this type of music but this EP is realy nice and enjoyable. thanx

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uf_on wrote:
July 2009

Love on Saturn EP is pretty awesome

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ISrafil wrote:
June 2009

great stuff

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TokenSunrise wrote:
June 2009

smooth stuff.

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atmospherical wrote:
June 2009

damn. missed you in van. great stuff.

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m_023 wrote:
June 2009

Live at Forward Festival, Washington DC http://www.hybridized.org/sets/651

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azurazu wrote:
May 2009

Does anyone know whether/where I can buy Kilowatts' older CDs? Not really interested in mp3 downloads.. I'm dying to buy "Perfected Everything" but I'm not sure if it was ever released as anything else than mp3..

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SexWithMinors wrote:
February 2009

two days off cranks

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ApeSmasher wrote:
February 2009

hell yeah kilowatts!!!

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gtutor wrote:
February 2009

lovin your music! cant wait till the somnia album is released!

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AbstractionMind wrote:
January 2009

Legal download of Essell > http://soulseekrecords.org/releases/slsk003_va_-_cenart/ Cen'Art is a compilation of downtempo, ambient, chill-out tracks created especially for the restaurant/lounge/art gallery of the same name, located in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to having rooms full of comfortable lighting and poofy cushions for sitting, Cen'Art (the place, not the album) also hosts DJ performances, live music, kitchen art, and other activities. Check it out if you're in the area!

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