James Stinson (musician)

James Marcel Stinson was born in Detroit's East Side on September 14, 1969^[1] to James and Helen Stinson.^[7] He graduated from Kettering High School in 1989.^[1] When not making music, Stinson held a job as a truck driver.^[8]

Stinson's first musical release was an EPs released in 1991 called Hyperspace Sound Lab under the alias Clarence G on the now-defunct Flourescent Sounds label.^[9] The following year, he formed Drexciya with Gerald Donald.^[6] The duo also released an EP that year under the name L.A.M., an acronym meaning Life After Mutation.^[10] Stinson was also a member of the Detroit-based Underground Resistance techno collective in the early 1990s.^[11] In 1995, Stinson and Donald formed a short-lived duo called Elecktroids. They released an EP that July followed by an album, Elektroworld, in August.^[1] Stinson played a key role in writing Drexciya’s complex science fiction world.^[6]

Following the success of Drexciya's debut album Neptune's Lair in 1999, he began releasing music more frequently under different aliases.^[12] His best known solo work, Lifestyles of the Laptop Café, was released by Warp on September 3, 2001, under his moniker of The Other People Place. The record, which features Stinson’s own vocals, was noted for its jazz and tech house influences and for its simplicity in sound and narrative in contrast to his work with Drexciya.^[13] It received little promotion upon release and soon went out of print. Following Stinson’s death and the subsequent confirmation that he had produced the album, it attracted growing interest from record collectors. Its 2017 vinyl reissue by Warp brought renewed attention to the album which led to broader recognition among electronic music fans and critics.^[13] Resident Advisor would call it “one of electronic music’s most essential records”.^[14]

Following the release of Lifestyles of the Laptop Café, he released an EP and album as Transllusion in November 2001. In early 2002, he released an album as Abstract Thought, as well as two more releases as Transllusion.^[12] Following these releases, he relocated to the Atlanta area seeking a warmer environment to help treat an undisclosed heart condition.^[15]

In Georgia, he began working on a new album under the alias Shifted Phases. This album, The Cosmic Memoirs of the Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope, was released by Tresor Records posthumously on October 1. A second posthumous release, Mice or Cyborg, was released by Clone Records in November 2003 under the alias Lab Rat X.^[12]

Stinson died on September 3, 2002, in Newnan, Georgia, at the age of 32 from complications of his heart condition.^[16] He was buried in Detroit.^[8] He was married to Andrea Stinson (née Clementson) and the couple had seven children together.^[7]

He was a very private figure who was not confirmed as a member of Drexciya until after his death.^[13] In 2017, Clone Records released an EP called Laptop Cafe under the Jack Peoples moniker as part of their Aqualung series. The EP contained six previously unreleased songs from Lifestyles of the Laptop Café.^[17]