DJ Sprinkles

Already known for provocative and challenging works ranging from deep listening ambience to electro-acoustic abstractions to neo-expressionist piano solos, in the late '90s multimedia producer and computer musician Terre Thaemlitz resurrected the club music moniker DJ Sprinkles -- a name Thaemlitz used earlier in the decade as a New York City club DJ. A Minnesota-born transplant (by way of Missouri), Thaemlitz arrived in N.Y.C. in the late '80s to attend art school at the Cooper Union. Thaemlitz eventually entered club culture through his association with gay activist causes, providing mixing skills for benefit parties and the like. Thaemlitz started a long-running mixtape series called Deeperama that focused on small underground releases, often breaking classic tracks months ahead of other DJs. In 1991, Thaemlitz also had a residency spinning at the transsexual club Sally's, and -- as DJ Sprinkles -- was awarded an Underground Grammy for DJ of the Year. Growing weary of club audiences who clamored for major-label releases, by the mid-'90s Thaemlitz turned to the rising ambient movement, keeping house music on the back burner. At the turn of the millennium, Thaemlitz, by now a respected producer under his birth name, relocated to Japan and resumed DJ activities (including the Deeperama mix series), continuing with more experimental compositions as well. The first DJ Sprinkles release, the 12" single "Sloppy 42nds," arrived in 1998 on Thaemlitz's own Comatose Recordings imprint; a decade would pass before the release of 2009's Midtown 120 Blues, the first full-length under the DJ Sprinkles name. ~ Dave Shim, Rovi