Self - Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995, Zoo/BMG)

"Subliminal Plastic Motives" is the debut record from Self, released in 1995 on Spongebath Records and rereleased soon after on Zoo/BMG. Self is largely the brainchild of Matt Mahaffey, a Tennessee native who began as a professional live/session drummer turned hip-hop producer. Mahaffey's eclectic background comes through on his first record under the Self moniker, where he takes quirky guitar pop and adds a heavy dose of samples, hip-hop, and even jazz. All Music Guide described the album as: "Nirvana's chord progressions overlaid with Jellyfish-type vocal harmonies, all processed through Beck's idiosyncratic sample-based production aesthetic", and I would say that description is dead on. The band toured in support of the record on bills with the likes of Cracker and Garbage, and received a bit of MTV airplay for the singles "Cannon" and "So Low" (which can be viewed HERE).Subsequent Self albums were released on Dreamworks records before the label folded in the early 00's, at which point Self began releasing free internet-only albums.

In addition to his work with Self, Matt Hahaffey has worked with many different artists as both musician and producer. He toured with Beck from 2005-2006, and contributed to the re-released new edition of Beck's Odelay album. He has written and performed several television jingles, including the very recognizable Expedia.com tagline. As a solo producer and as one half of the production duo/recording project "Wired All Wrong" (with Jeff Turzo of God Lives Underwater), he has worked with artists such as HelloGoodbye, Vitamin C, and Auf Der Maur.

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