James Pants is the Stones Throw Records insider and the purveyor of the fresh beat, an early-1980s sound with influences from 1980s soul, electro boogie, early rap, new wave, and post-punk disco.

He shared the love for the smooth vinyl sound and rare, oftenly severely vaporized, samples with his label inmates. In the past, James Pants made records that sounded like they’re stuck in a past era that, paradoxically, never existed.

His most recent album called Savage (2015) is much less goofy and much more contemporary. It makes us remember those imaginations that shaped the present.