MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

The cover of this disc–a girl clad in white standing in a bleak, wintery woodland–hints at the contents of 
this release, the latest from Midwest-born producer Erik Schoster. Combining dreamy pop music with 
experimental electronics (not to mention an arsenal of bells, harps, acoustic guitars, laptop-processed 
bleeps, and static), he has created an album that would please both laptop scientists and kids wanting
something pretty to listen to while driving a car. And yes, the album is named after the George Eliot novel.

http://www.xlr8r.com/news/2008/05/top-10-health-daedelus-audion
 

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

I was never familiar with He Can Jog - in fact, I had never even heard of the Brooklyn based experimental 
techno jockey until I took on MiddleMarch. Dear lord, was I missing out.

MiddleMarch is a glorious mishmash of kinky synths and danceable beats, endlessly hooking the listener 
into toe-tapping, mind-boggling, ear-blasting euphoria. A laptop musician extraordinaire, He Can Jog's music 
has the production quality of a full blown studio release from Warp, without losing the home-made, DIY 
character that amateur computer musicians round the world strive for. His cuts are progressive without
losing the edge and focus of rhythm and structure that keeps a listener wanting more. MiddleMarch owes 
a lot to acts like Proem and The Flashbulb, who moved techno and IDM away from the Audiovisual Club 
mentality of gear-over-substance and focused on making the music fun, catchy, and real. 

That sense of reality is what will keep me listening to He Can Jog for many, many months. The powerful, 
staggering presence of warmth and texture in MiddleMarch is beautifully jarring compared to last year. 
2007 was a year of cold, heartless electronica. 2008 is proving completely different, delivering sensible 
electronic acts with a slew of raw, personal offerings. The four part suite series on MiddleMarch is 
reason alone to call He Can Jog the next Benn Jordann or Aaron Funk. I know comparing an unestablished 
bedroom producer to these gods of the modern electronic realm might seem a tad drastic, but there is no doubt
in my mind that He Can Jog will aspire to meet and even exceed the achievements of these artists, and in no 
time will prove himself as a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

I do hate drawing such blatant comparisons when He Can Jog's sound is incredibly original, but I will say 
that the excitement and enthusiasm brought to the table on MiddleMarch reminds me of Arctic Hospital, my 
favorite new star in the electronic world, though He Can Jog is not a distant second by any means. I've said 
it before and I'll say it again: the place to find tomorrow's stars is Audiobulb Records. The label knows exactly 
what makes the digital music world tick. Well done, He Can Jog. Well done.

-Jack Britton

http://thesilentballet.com

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

RATED: 9.5 / 10  	

reviewed by  Larry Johnson

He Can Jog is sound sculptor (and co-director of the Luvsound netlabel) Erik Schoster from Madison, 
Wisconsin. If you visit his website you’ll notice that it’s interestingly subtitled “homebrewed Midwestern 
electronic nonsense” with the word “nonsense” being used (at least to my way of thinking) in the context 
of “fun noise.” Some four years in the making, Middlemarch is Erik’s debut release on Audiobulb and provides 
yet another instance of the label’s commitment to releasing exceptional exploratory electronic music. 

Even though He Can Jog is an anagram of John Cage, Erik’s compositions are no where close to being 
Cageian-like. The music on Middlemarch (named after the classic George Elliot novel) is a heartfelt, 
entertaining, and perplexing flurry of sonic excitement consisting of warm melodies, lively broken-beats, 
occasional vocals, and flickering tones inspired by the intersections of intimate collections of memories. It's 
a whimsical blend of folk-pop influences, IDM flavorings, and hazy ambient textures. Erik's method of 
composing makes use of software programming, acoustic instrument samples, electronic production, and
improvisation via the manipulation of sounds using custom-built patches.

I have to admit that Middlemarch is not the usual kind of experimental electronic music that I listen to or review. 
After receiving the promo copy and hearing it or the first time, I had pretty much decided that it was not 
something that I could write about. However, I’ve learned that first impressions are quite often deceiving and 
found that to be the case here. Repeated listening and a thorough reading of the notes that accompanied the 
disc revealed an underlying richness in compositional style/content and emotional intensity that one casual 
listening just doesn’t reveal. So here's an album of serious, skillfully composed experimental electronic music 
that's able to bring a smile to my face by simply being exciting, entertaining, uplifting, and just plain fun to listen 
to?

While some listeners might at least initially be put off by the quirky blend of folk, pop, IDM, and ambient 
elements that went into the making of the nine eclectic works comprising Middlemarch, a little more unbiased 
and considerate listening will reveal the same compositional vitality and emotional depth that I came to realize. 
Middlemarch is an important release for Erik personally being as it is a kind of sonic memoir detailing a few 
years of his life, and he "counts the whole record as a catalogue of these memories of people and places 
and his own process of becoming."

http://www.earlabs.org

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

The strangely named He Can Jog is one of the many projects of Brooklyn-based sound artist Erik Schoster 
who focuses primarily on textural sound explorations. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Schoster spent 
his formative years studying composition and improvisations. In the last four years, he has released a handful 
of MP3 EPs and his work has also been featured on a few compilations, including on no less than four from 
Sheffield’s excellent Audiobulb, which have been nurturing his talent for some time. It is therefore only fair that 
they got to release Middlemarch, the follow up to his debut album, New Ground Has Not Broken, Soil Last Week 
And Dirt Today, released in 2004.

Right from the onset of Suite Part Four, which opens, Schoster establishes an elegant laptopestry made of 
interferences, glitches and statics upon which he builds subtle little melodic pieces which often develop into 
gentle layered miniature symphonies, usually contained within three-to-five minute compositions. The album 
seems articulated around the four Suites, beginning, as mentioned above with Part Four, Suite Part Three 
following a couple of tracks in and the epic Suite Parts One And Two, which closes the album. The remaining 
compositions stand very well on their own however, whether it is the short interludes Dials, with its minimal 
drone-like setting, or A Small Thing, with its bubbling statics and embryo of melody which originally fails to 
develop, but finally comes to life on Contractors And Architects, the only vocal track on the album, or with 
more fully formed tracks. Surprisingly upbeat and clearly defined against the rest of the album, the refined 
Suite Part Three is in part reminiscent of Four Tet circa Pause, but this is in no way a criticism as Schoster 
does this kind of things rather well. My (Mother’s) Records, which follows, combines processed acoustic 
guitars, found sounds and sliced vocal samples into a much tightly woven ball of sounds.

The album then veers toward slightly darker and colder grounds with Agnes (After Woodland Pattern) and 
Pan-Fried Fern, which, although remaining sonically close to the rest of the album, appear to echo the foggy 
atmosphere of the cover photograph, which shows a young girl, bare feet, walking in a wintry woodland. 
The piece de resistance of Middlemarch comes with concluding piece Suite Parts One And Two, which 
develops over twelve and a half minutes and two distinct sections, the first one appearing like a stripped 
down version of the second, where Schoster deploys the richest soundscapes and melodies of the record. 

With Middlemarch, He Can Jog’s Erik Schoster has created a rather beautiful and intimate record which delights 
and charms all the way through, thanks to carefully crafted sound formations and melodies which continuously 
grow and develop. Middlemarch is one of these records that procure continuous listening pleasure by 
somehow giving the impression of never sounding quite the same twice.

4/5

http://whiteline1.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/he-can-jog-middlemarch-cd-audiobulb/ 

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

He Can Jog – a nifty little anagram of John Cage, perhaps takes some of its influence from the Great Man in 
terms of innovative solutions and skewed approaches. This is a charming, engaging little piece that invites 
instant comparisons to Brit minimalist composers, The Boats, or Mole Harness. U.S based Erik Schoster is the 
personality behind He Can Jog, and on Middlemarch, we see him inviting a cluster of musicians to augment 
and filter through his works. Most prominent are the cut and paste-type pieces that use fractured harmonies, 
and layered beats and blips. There are a variety of solutions on display here, that echo a truly post modern 
canvas, covering everything from the dripping melancholia of “Agnes (after woodland pattern)”, with its 
soothing harmonics and lilting loops, to the itchy minimalism of “Pan – Fried Fern”.” “Contractors and Architects” 
is essentially a mini pop melody, infused with vocals from Nick Sanborn, and has an infectious, bubbly refrain, 
with little of the rest of the album’s cut and slice approach.

Throughout the collection, there are various surreal interruptions and interventions, oddly placed narratives, and 
words appearing as if from nowhere, that locate themselves outside of the pieces, yet somehow cohere with it 
at the same time. Non-linearity is the order of the day, with each narrative being spliced and grafted onto other 
elements in an unsettling, but highly engaging assemblage. To use the word “collage” would perhaps be a little 
trite, but this is indeed a fresh and expertly crafted CD that takes digital composition to some kind of logical 
extreme. If this is the future of modern composition, then count me in, and once again, Audiobulb asserts itself 
as a highly intelligent, innovative promoter of the digital (and post –digital) aesthetic. BGN

http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

A generally inviting exercise in warm electronic melodicism, MiddleMarch by He Can Jog (yes, the title 
purposefully references George Eliot's novel and the alias adopted by laptop knob-twiddler and one-time 
trombonist Erik Schoster is an anagram of John Cage) inverts the usual template by spreading beats more 
freely over songs anchored by emotive keyboard melodies—but that's just one of the oblique strategies 
Schoster brings to the table. Accompanied by a handful of guests (who contribute Rhodes, Vibes and guitar 
samples, field recordings, and vocals), Schoster works a community theme into the album (hence the title 
choice) as it documents not only the evolution in his working methods—sampling, software programming, 
and electronic synthesis all figure in—over a four-year span, but also his interpersonal experiences during 
that time.

Some pieces are experimental and explorative in character: a collage-like scattering of elements constitutes 
“My (Mother's) Records” (not entirely successfully either, as dropping the line “The songs we're now hearing 
are ancient tunes” into its middle seems a little too cute), and deeply textured masses of flickering starbursts 
flow through “Agnes (After Woodland Pattern),” “Pan-Fried Fern,” and “A Small Thing.” More immediately 
appealing is the material that gravitates towards sparkling electronic pop: “Contractors and Architects,” 
composed and sung by Nick Sanborn, could pass for a sample track by Morr Music's latest signing, while 
the keyboard melodies in “Suite Part Three” could single-handedly lull the crankiest infant to sleep. Both 
tendencies coalesce in the twelve-minute meditation “Suites Part One and Two” whose becalmed 
arrangement of glistening bells and tonal shimmer closes the album strongly. 

http://www.textura.org

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

He Can Jog is an anagram of John Cage, but thankfully that's as groanworthy as Madison, Winsconsin's Erik 
Schoster's solo album gets. The album takes its title from the George Eliot novel because it is about how one
develops as a person through interaction with a particular community. Schoster draws on his own memories of 
friends and acquaintances in Winsconsin and Milwaukee, where he also spends some of his time. Despite its 
irregular rhythmic intervals and heavy, thorough treatments, using, for example, custom programmed Max 
patches and sampled acoustic instruments, the overall effect of Middlemarch is benign. This is fine, because
what the album is really about is memories and memory associations - the way recollections of people and 
places are filtered, preserved, distorted and cherished. The music reflects that in the stresses, overdubs and 
processes it has undergone, most sublimely on "Agnes (After Woodland Patern)".

http://www.thewire.co.uk

MIDDLEMARCH - HE CAN JOG (CD by Audiobulb Records)

He Can Jog is an anagram of John Cage. It's the name chosen by Erik Schoster from Madison, Wisconsin. He 
studied composition and improvisation and plays with Cedar AV. His music is entirely made on the computer, 
and if you know what this label released before then you may already have an idea what he Can Jog is about. 
Bouncy beats, here even more than elsewhere, samples of guitars, voices, a bit of ambient. If I honest I say 
that I was reading this mornings newspaper when I put this on and I thought it was quite alright background 
music, but when I started writing, replaying, and listening more carefully, I thought it was a bit less than what 
I first anticipated. It sounds all a bit worn out. The Oval approaches, the Fennesz bendings, the IDM broken 
beats, the funny weirdness. Maybe I am getting too old for this line of musical business, but however nice this 
is, it just didn't do too much for me. (FdW) 

http://www.vitalweekly.net/