Emancipator

Douglas Appling (born May 27, 1987), better known by his stage name, Emancipator, is an American producer and DJ based in Portland, Oregon, United States. He launched his music career by self-releasing his debut album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, in 2006 while he was a college student. He has released eight studio albums (two of which are collaboration albums), two live albums, five EPs and three remix collections. He also founded his own record label, Loci Records, in 2012 and formed a live band called the Emancipator Ensemble in 2013.

Early life

Doug Appling was born and raised in Virginia, where he studied violin from ages 4 to 12, progressing to electric guitar, drums and bass as a teenager. He cites his father's "eclectic music collection" as sparking his interest in electronic music, while his mother "who'd volunteered in the Peace Corps" exposed him to "African thumb pianos and sounds from beyond the Western palette." After high school, Doug attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, completing an undergraduate degree in psychology. While there, he took a number of classes in music theory, which influenced him as an artist. He self-released his first solo album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, under the name "Emancipator" in 2006. Distribution was limited since he burned the CDs at home, sold them via his MySpace channel and "hand-delivered them to the post office every week." Remixes, an album of reworked versions of Emancipator tracks by Blockhead, Big Gigantic, Tor and others, was self-released in 2011. Around this time, Appling began touring with a live violinist, Ilya Goldberg; the duo drew positive critical attention. In 2012, Appling founded his own label, Loci Records, and released the album Drum Therapy by Tor as the label's debut album.

2013 saw the release of Emancipator's third studio album, Dusk to Dawn, his first album on Loci Records. Significant touring and studio work followed the release of the record and a four-piece full-band, Emancipator Ensemble, debuted for live audiences.

In 2015, Emancipator released his first live album, Live from Athens, in June; his second remix album, Dusk to Dawn Remixes, in July; and his fourth studio album, Seven Seas, in September.

Emancipator's fifth studio album, Baralku, was released in November 2017. The album, named for a spiritual island where some Australian indigenous tribes believe the dead reside, was supported by three singles: "Ghost Pong," "Goodness" and "Baralku."

In January 2020, Emancipator released a new single, "Labyrinth," along with the title of his sixth studio album, Mountain of Memory, and announced a tour for the album. At the end of February 2020, Emancipator released his second single off the album, "Iron Ox." On April 3, 2020, Emancipator released his sixth studio album, Mountain of Memory. Later that year, Emancipator released Mountain of Memory Remixes, a remix album featuring reworks of tracks from his 2020 album Mountain of Memory by various producers, including Poldoore, il:lo, CloZee, and others.

Discography

Studio albums TitleRelease dateSoon It Will Be Cold Enough January 19, 2006 (re-released April 25, 2008, on Hydeout Productions) Safe in the Steep Cliffs January 19, 2010Dusk to Dawn (album)|Dusk to Dawn| January 29, 2013 Seven Seas| September 25, 2015 Baralku| November 17, 2017 Mountain of Memory| April 3, 2020 Dab Records, Vol. 1 (with Dab Records and Asher Fulero) January 29, 2021 Xylem (with Rena Jones and Flowerpulse) April 9, 2021 11th Orbit (with Lapa) September 23, 2022 Stories of the Melting Sun'' (with Lapa) September 19, 2025

EPs

Remix albums

Live albums TitleAlbum detailsLive in Athens Released June 4, 2015 Recorded live at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia, on February 22, 2014Baralku Tour Released December 13, 2019

Singles TitleSong details"Shook (Sigur Ros X Mobb Deep)" Released April 20, 2011Mashup of Sigur Rós's "Untitled 1" and Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones Part II""Maps" Originally released as a track on Soon It Will Be Cold Enough in 2006, this song was omitted from Nujabes's remastered version of the album in 2008. Re-released April 20, 2011"Father King" Originally released as a track on Soon It Will Be Cold Enough in 2006, this song was omitted from Nujabes's remastered version of the album in 2008. Re-released April 20, 2011"Elephant Survival" Released December 15, 2011Mashup of Elephant Revival's "Forgiveness" and Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing""Kids/Truman Sleeps" Released September 30, 2015Mashup of MGMT's "Kids" and the theme from The Truman Show"Ghost Pong" Released August 22, 2017"Goodness" Released September 20, 2017"Baralku" Released October 23, 2017"Cheeba" Released March 8, 2019"The Bridge (feat. Lapa, Frameworks & TOR)" Released August 23, 2019"Himalayan"Released March 2020"Sea To Sky (feat. Murge)"Released March 18, 2022"The Painted Lady" (w/ Kishi Bashi)Released July 24, 2026