Bloc 2012 Artist Profile: Jacques Greene

There are probably more people who have seen Jacques Greene’s face than people who know his name. Flash back to mid-late 2011 with Azelia Banks’ “212”–that’s him wearing the glasses while Azealia Banks proclaims “I’ma ruin you cunt” in his ear.

His unabashed visibility is ironic since the 22-year-old Montreal-bred producer tends to keep his identity under the radar. Even the name–Jacques Greene–is just an unusually normal alias reflecting his Anglo and French-Canadian roots.

However, over the past two years, Greene has steadily emerged out of obscurity into the forefront of a scene dominated by producers from the United Kingdom. Following the release of white label vinyls in late 2010, he has released EPs on notable labels such as Night Slugs and LuckyMe. His growing prominence with the release of Another Girl caught the attention of Radiohead, who recruited him to contribute to The King of Limbs remix compilation, TKOL RMX 1234567.   

Greene’s sound largely consists of a blend of house and garage with some overt R&B influences. Two of my favorite tracks of his, “Another Girl” and “Tell Me” best exemplify why  I find his music so appealing–they’re melancholy, deep and slow-burning with vivacity all at once.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6veSi76_XbA]

Forthcoming is his EP Ready, which sounds to be an exciting debut on 3024–the imprint run by Martyn (who is also playing at Bloc Festival). The approach on Ready shows off his versatility; While it is a little more assertive than what I have come to perceive as his sound, he still makes room for a nice groove.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGyqgxEsM90]

With such consistently solid releases and with the internet on his side, Jacques Greene will quickly prove to be a face and a name to know.

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