10.06.21

12:52
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Beaumont Hannant Is The Best.

Hey everyone. I've been hiding something from you... I know who the best producer in the world is. I hope you can forgive me for not telling you sooner. I came across Sculptured by Beaumont Hannant (aka YO3) in... 2017? At a record store in Winnipeg for about $5 CAD, while sifting through the cheap techno/IDM section, which most record shops have.
There's not a lot to say about Beaumont himself since there is not a lot that we know. He left the public eye in the mid 90s before anyone really had the chance to discover his genius.
This is the first song of his that I heard...

[ Listen to the whole album ] I remember listening to Sculptured for the first time in my friend's greenhouse of a bedroom, around the age of 19. Melting from the heat, the music felt like a cold glass of water. I looked him up on Youtube not long after to discover my favourite track of his...

I was at a point in my life where I didn't know myself very well, which was full of conflicting emotions. I had the freedom to be whoever; at the same time, I faced the frustration of wanting to find myself. Of course this feeling always exists to some extent in life - but still being a teenager at the time, the feeling was at a peak. It's interesting, the things you come across as you grow that unassumingly make huge impacts on your path. I'm not really sure how to describe the impact it had - it inspired a drive to be creative and true to myself, which was the encouragement I needed at the time. A lot of my identity was based on my relationships - which had its pros and cons. Finding Beaumont's music on my own, it felt that something was all mine for once... Around the same time, I was getting into buddhism. It was a period of metamorphosis in my life. I found Beaumont in my cocoon.
If you're into IDM, you might have heard this Beaumont song on Warp Records Artificial Intelligence II compilation.

The album art fittingly reminds me of Second Life.
Beaumont also worked under the alias YO3. I'm not sure why, to me the difference is in the energy. YO3 feels more relaxed. He only released under this alias in 1994 - one album (Bitter Sweet) and a few singles/EPs.

After his solo work, he, Lida Husik, and Richard Brown (whos discographies are also worth exploring) came together as Outcast (not OutKast), and released the album Out of Tune in 1996. For a long time, Outcast was my favourite band for their unique grunge-drum-heavy-yet-atmospheric sound. Out of Tune, as well as Beaumont's whole discography sounds as if a psych thriller movie were music. When I found them, I was also going through a moment with those types of movies - Requiem for a Dream, Funny Games, and things suchas.

People like to talk about Beaumont and Richard's Björk remixes. I've only found two, but apparently there might be more? A Coffee With Benson glows much brighter in my eyes... but Björk is good for SEO. I'm a quarter Icelandic and have always felt very attached to that part of my heritage, so I do love anything Björk.

Lida and Beaumont liked working together prior to Outcast. They released From Evening at the Grange in 94 through Astralwerks - Beaumont on production and Lida on vocals.

"Everybody wants the past to last..."
So, have a meditative moment with yourself or some friends and enjoy Beaumont Hannant. Here's a playlist I'm working on.

A good profile on Beaumont. | More Beaumont.

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