On the Floor – Hieroglyphic Being at Big Ears Festival

The history of Chicago house has been well documented, but even experts on the subject have trouble knowing exactly where to put—or to how to explain—Hieroglyphic Being. Born Jamal Moss and also producing under the I.B.M. (Insane Black Man) moniker, his earliest mentors during the 1990s were Adonis and Steve Poindexter. With each passing year, however, he’s gone increasingly in his own direction, embracing—and expanding upon—the afro-futurist teachings of Sun Ra while folding in elements of noise, post-punk, free jazz, industrial and other leftfield sounds. His abstract and singular vision is perhaps most strongly presented via his idiosyncratic Mathematics label, which issues the bulk of Moss’ material, along with scattered efforts from a number of other electronic music outsiders.