No School by Asterisk
No School is neither old school or new school, it’s somewhere beyond. Dreamy, psychedelic & head nodding, No School hints backwards with funky samples & classic drum grooves but also pushes forward with glitch, ambient, drone, electro-acoustic sound collage and other excursions while staying very listenable and worthy of deeper return visits.
Asterisk is the beat maker / producer alias of Greg Davis. While Greg may be best known for his folktronica, ambient, drone & various shades of electronic music for labels like Carpark, Kranky, Important, Room40, Digitalis, NNA, greyfade and more, his initial passion for music was making beats & rhymes with turntables, a cheap sampler and a busted 4-track in his basement in the early 90s. He was obsessed with hip-hop during that golden era (1988-1995) and then ventured off to music school where his curiosity took him outwards through jazz, improvised music, electronics, experimental, avant-garde composition and beyond. But he always held a deeply rooted love for hip-hop. During the past 10 years or so, Greg has reconnected with the vital music from the current hip-hop underground and started making beats again as a side quest. Last year, he released his first beat tape as Asterisk titled We’re Gonna Fly Away on Bandcamp. After that he started reaching out to a wide array of indie rappers, young and old, to begin work on No School. No School was meticulously stitched together & crafted over the course of the past year and features a stellar lineup of MCs.
Isn’t it funny how life comes full circle sometimes? Greg Davis returns to his roots and reconnects with his original passion & inspiration for making music and emerges as Asterisk with a fully realized hip-hop album that pulls in all of Greg’s influences, techniques & experiences from touring & making records over the past 25 years. Check it out y’all and spread the word!
Tracklist
Credits
All of the beats / tracks were fully produced, mixed & arranged by Asterisk at his studio in Burlington, VT.
Mastered by Willie Green at the Green House in Brooklyn, NY.
Artwork vision was realized by Darryl Norsen.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Greg Davis is an internationally recognized electronic musician who has been putting out records & playing shows since 2000.
Davis has released albums on labels such as Important, Kranky, Ekhein, Room40, Install, Home Normal, Digitalis, NNA, Greyfade, Carpark Records, as well on his own Autumn Records. He lives in Burlington VT & owns / operates Autumn Records shops in Winooski & Waterbury VT.