From the ashes of Razed High, the multi-instrumentalist, vinyl villian and gadget scavenger-hermit, Hai-Ding, broke the confines of the West Coast and morphed into a formidable musical force now secretly migrating between L.A., San Francisco and Tokyo. Under the moniker Metaform, his anonymity, coupled with a divine knack for gleening the essence of countless genres has both positioned him as an act to be reckoned with, as well as enhanced the mystery of his identity.

Metaform paints a portrait of the seedy underbelly of east and west by blending live instrumentation and structured samplings to hone his skills. Sequestering himself in the Boom Box (his modest home studio with an array of toys), Metaform redefines “street” and takes genre-bending to dizzying heights. Pick your poison. “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” pays homage to ear candy soul classics and folds in healthy doses of just the fix you need.

Garnering praise from XLR8R, URB, CD Baby and DJ Magazine, Metaform delivers. This new release is a cocktail with flavors of RJD2, Iggy Pop, Underworld, Thomas Fehlmann, and DJ Shadow. Those with ears like fine tooth combs may also dream of where Metaform could be heading and thus drool at the prospect of future releases blending Anticon-esque fractured hip-hop beats with the experimentalism of Animal Collective and the beauty of Home Video, Mum or some other smokey-lounge act.

However you size it up, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” will be the release to put Metaform on the map. Sucka free for ’08.