Virgil Work, Jr. / Nadir Smith

Virgil Work, Jr.

Virgil is a producer, composer, arranger, musician and artist. He has published hundreds of songs on numerous albums as a solo artist, and his innovative rhythmic concept has become an identifiable characteristic of his music. Virgil plays electronic drums, percussion and synthesizers on his albums, and also plays a variety of acoustic percussion instruments, including bongos, congas and tambourine.

Collaborating with his brother Scott Work (S. Work), they formed the group A Work of Art in 1981, and the industrial group Workdub was founded by Virgil and Nic Georgieff in 1988. Between 1989 and 1995 Workdub released three self-titled albums.

Nic and Virgil are now revered as electronic music pioneers, and a selection of Workdub tracks has been reissued on a self-titled vinyl EP by the Music From Memory label out of Amsterdam, and another selection of Workdub tracks was released as the Workdub Subterranean vinyl LP by the Left Ear Records label from Australia. Virgil’s self-titled Vincent EP consists of tracks from his Fast Forward album that were also reissued on vinyl EP by Music From Memory, and his song The Mood from his Fast Forward album was later included on a vinyl LP compilation released by the Orbeatize label out of Italy. Vincent’s Synthetic Pleasure, a compilation of Virgil’s tracks from 1985-1995, was digitally released by the Paradise Is A Frequency label based in St. Louis, Missouri. Virgil’s discography includes 35 albums as either a solo artist, contributing artist, or producer. Virgil has distributed his music with iTunes, Amazon and many of the download and streaming sites.

Bandcamp

Nadir Smith

“When I think about [the music] too much, it just really doesn’t work out. I try to keep things as intuitive as possible. I see it as me building a riddle in a live setting,” says electronic sound artist Olan, short for Thomas Olanrewaju Osunsami, the figurehead behind Nadir Smith.

Using two samplers, Olan’s approach depicts a stream of consciousness, often drawing on music from lost or long-forgotten sources. The result is a seamless movement of maverick, dance-music tricks and musique concrete textures, touching on elements of Detroit’s futurist electronic pioneers Drexciya & Octave One collective and referencing the underground maverick obscurities of the Nurse With Wound list.

Olan’s streamline approach feels most akin to a journey – like soundtracking for psychological realms. His spontaneous sets play on a surrealist collage of discovered sounds and digital effects. Emerging from the underground music scene of Peoria, IL, Olan has since relocated to St. Louis where he has become a fixture on both experimental and punk shows.
 

New Music Circle and Close/Far Recordings present:
Afrofuturism St. Louis (cassette/digital release)

Release and ordering details will be through the Close-Far site and bandcamp.
 

The idea for an Afrofuturism St. Louis compilation started in the spring of 2019 as an extension of the Rhizomatic St. Louis compilations of regional underground music I had previously released five volumes of on cassette. The original plan was to have a tape release show, with live performances, in the spring of 2020 at a Bruxism event. I’m thrilled to see it finally published here as it has been in limbo since the Covid-19 pandemic. It features excellent work from the following St. Louis-based artists: Virgil Work, Jr., Nadir Smith, 18andCounting, Parisian, Delta Cool Breeze (Itshanapa Dail Chambers), Ra Child, Ariel Kenyatta, Ethiks Mind, Michael Williams, Syna So Pro, and William Morris. It will also be available as a digital download for those that don’t have tape players. Featuring cover art by Nadir Smith. Edition of 100. All proceeds go to ArchCity Defenders.

– Nathan Cook (Close/Far Recordings)