The story begins humbly in a college dorm room. No cutting edge software. No high end hardware. There were just two friends, a sampling mixer, a drum machine, a crate of records, and a lot of inspiration. Chris Kramer had yet to don his artistic alter-ego of Simple X. He was years away from recording his musical debut with his Trans-Atlantic collaborator, Pimpernel Jones. Roderick Jackson was not yet known by the moniker, Midas Wells. He had not met future collaborators, Serengeti and Haiku, and their albums that were to follow were but specters of the future. It was there, in that dorm room, that Jackson and Kramer would become musical lab partners, experimenting with sound and working within the limited capacity that their available resources afforded them. That was in 1998.

Now fast forward to the present. Kramer (Simple X) is part of the duo, Herma Puma, which produced their First Word Records debut, Synchromistic (2010) and D-Nick The Microphone Misfit’s Graphic Novel (2010). Jackson (Midas Wells) has production on three albums by indie artist Serengeti: Noodle-Arm Whimsy (2005), Dennehy (2006) and Noticeably Negro (2006). He has also produced on two albums for Chicago-based emcee Haiku: Brainstorms (2004) and Blue (2006). The two collectively possess decades of musical experience. And although they have creatively evolved, and their laboratory has upgraded, one thing has remained unchanged: the pioneering spirit of experimentation.

Under the name of Tensei (which literately translates to “Heaven Star” in Japanese) Simple X and Midas Wells form an enterprising duo that dares to challenge the status quo of music and the notion that “everything has already been done”. Hailing from the international music mecca of Chicago, the two have a wealth of musical influence to inform their production. As a direct result, Tensei is not heavily reliant on sampling. Instead, they play musical parts themselves utilizing both real and virtual instruments, and work alongside session musicians and vocalists. The end product is a unique sound that spans from classical to electronic, jazz to hip hop, world music to pop, and ultimately deconstructs the concept of genre. Their original compositions are densely layered, fully developed, and interesting musical arrangements that are capable of gaining praise from the strictest of music aficionados while remaining accessible to the casual listener. Heralding such a fresh and innovative musical approach, Tensei is both ahead of their time and right on time.