Michael J Hex

aka Michael J Brasell


Michael J. Hex started his musical career in Christchurch in the late 1980s. He formed Squirm with Brett Lupton in 1991 and they released several recordings. In the mid 1990s he began releasing his solo work on Noseflute, a DIY label that he co-founded. His work includes beautiful, affecting love songs as well as instrumental soundscapes via loops and processed/found sounds. He was a prolific artist with an uncompromising vision who created a body of work that was energetic, provocative, and emotionally complex.

By the time he released his fourth album, 66, in 2002, he was at the height of his powers, and creating music that was like a spiritual descendant of Snapper and The Clean. It was a great shock to all who knew him when he died suddenly in Dunedin in early 2004. The appraisal of his work went from initial critical acclaim in New Zealand to appreciative audiences in Europe and the USA from the late 1990s to the present day.

Arc Cafe, Dunedin 4/01: Ghostjogger
Arc Cafe, Dunedin 4/01: Ghostjogger
Peter Mitchell, She's Real still from vid promo by Campbell Taylor, 1995
Lupton, Brasell, Kirk, 1994
Hiss Explosion 66, Arclife 2002
Michael J Hex, Christchurch 2004
Photo credit: Roslyn Njenhuis
Canhex - Sentient Seas (Ghostjogger, 2002)
Michael J Hex, The Hiss Explosion, Noseflute 1998
Noseflute Records logo, 1998
Brasell, Engine, Noseflute 2002
Brasell mid 90s
Michael J Hex, Are You Hexperienced, Noseflute Records 1999
Canhex: Brasell with hand drum, Arc Cafe, Dunedin 4/01, Ghostjogger
Good Things Squirm gig poster, Failsafe 1994
Michael J Hex, Dunedin 4/01
Photo credit: Michael Canning
Michael J Hex, Johnny Horse, Noseflute 1996
Arc Cafe, Dunedin 4/01: Ghostjogger
Lupton, Brasell, Meier, 1992
Labels:

Ghostjogger


Arclife


Noseflute Records


Failsafe

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