Nikolai A. Jackson - The Addition

​Nikolai A. Jackson

The Addition
self-released; 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen
​

Where to even start. Nikolai A. Jackson is a musician who released a twenty-one track album called The Addition on Bandcamp. Since then he has expanded his release to four hundred songs (not a typo) on Soundcloud. This seems like an artistic statement not unlike the movie Ambiancé by Anders Weberg which lasts a jaw dropping thirty days. The trailer is seven hours long. No joke.

The music on The Addition is all over the place. You get everything from experimental, to lo-fi rock, to beat boxing and everything in between. At the very least it’s a bit fun randomly clicking away at different songs. Taking for example “Breaking Out” which is one long guitar solo or “9dees” which features a James Blake-esque dubstep vibe. 

There are experimental pieces that seem to initial ideas they never take off. One piece like this is “A Glimpse” which introduces orchestral synths and a sense of dissonance. “Fears In Numbers” is a lo-fi rock song. His lyrics are indecipherable but I did hear the word fuck in there a couple of times. 

There are some gems amongst the pile but it may require some time and patience. “It’s not who I am It’s who you were” was enjoyable on first listen. After going through the songs I enjoyed his dubstep beat boxing songs the most. There was some interesting goings on with these tracks. 

If you have some free time this Sunday you can delve into his complete catalogue. Overall, I admire the fact that Jackson is doing something on this kind of scale. It’s a bit ridiculous like the thirty day film but he has some merit is his ambition . With that I think Jackson’s initial idea was a good one. Cutting back these songs to twenty-one or even less of his best tracks will most likely grant him some more fans.

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