We are extremely sad to hear that Rodman Williams (also known as LUX) has passed away.
Rodman was a unique and continually staggering human being. He was immensely talented, disarmingly weird, but he could also be infuriating to work with–standing up commitments and being generally and intensely flighty–he often worked against his own self-interests. He was well known for no-showing sets but when he did turn up, he was simultaneously the celebrated hero of dance floors and the sworn enemy of sub-woofer bass bins (and unaware promoters who owned their own sound gear). If you wanted to work with Rodman, you had to step into his world–and he made no apologies for it. But this was all part of his charm.
We spent several years working with him to get his music released with the hope that a major label would pick him up and take him to the next level. At the time, during his long creative peak, he was truly poised to take over and make a major impact worldwide. We helped him self-release his first LP and EP (entitled Down 4 Life and Booty respectively) through the Fake Science mp3 store, which would become the #1 and #3 all-time top sellers on that site. This is the only material he ever officially released; however, there is a veritable treasure trove of his music floating around the internet.
We are very proud to have been a part of his journey, but extremely sad that it has come to an end (on Earth, at least). As a tribute to Rodman–his spirit and his music–we have put the tracks of his that we have into the high-rotation queue on OEM Radio—where they will remain in perpetuity.
You can still pick up the Down 4 Life LP via Addictech: right here.
A Facebook memorial site is located here. It contains a lot of wonderful photos, stories, remembrances, and links to his music and videos of his performances.
Rest in peace, Rodman.
Here are some other artifacts to check out…
An assortment of LUX tracks and remixes:
Full live set from DownLow, a sunrise outdoor party at Toxic Beach in SF in 2005 (thanks to Alexander for this one):
Quite a nice send off. Thanks for introducing me to his music.
Thanks for posting this Maer.
Will never forget that morning in 2005 when Rodman played at Toxic Beach. I was otherworldly and marked me profoundly.
– Kyle
THANK YOU for this and for the Lux Memorial show that you’re doing tonight. I know that the family really appreciates all that you’re doing here, Maer. You rock!! I am also hoping for a downloadable or at least playable link to the memorial set after it makes its debut tonight. Thanks again <3