Emancipator

As dubstep continues to club electronic music over the head and then wobble all over its unconscious frame, it’s comforting that producers like Emancipator (né Doug Appling) still measure their beats in nuance and texture as opposed to soul-shattering bass. The Portland, Oregon DJ combined elements of ambient, trip-hop, and even ’90s acid jazz on his two full-length releases, the most recent being 2010’s Safe In The Steep Cliffs. The classically trained musician is able to round out his computer-generated tunes with live instrumentation, adding lots of mournful strings on tracks like “Greenland” to amp up the organic drama that enriches his soothing soundscapes. 

Updated 02/08/2012