Black Hat

Nelson Bean, a Seattle-based artist known as Black Hat, produces experimental electronic music that builds complex rhythms over expansive drones. While some of his work is bleak and intense enough to be likened to industrial, some of his other material is brighter and more vivid, coming closer to IDM. There's also a heavy bass element to his music, which can prove to be punishing in a live context. Bean grew up in Oakland, California but moved to Seattle after college, and began the Black Hat project in 2012, after the band he was playing bass in didn't work out. He self-relea...