Ten years ago, Joel Zimmerman was a computer programmer making music for fun in his spare time. Influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Aphex Twin, this was a very different deadmau5 than the one we know so well today. This was, after all, three years before Random Album Title would see its release on Ultra Music, officially cementing Zimmerman as one of electronic music’s most exciting new talents.

In 2005, deadmau5 released his debut studio album: Get Scraped. Boasting 16 songs in its original CD format, it’s a far-cry from his more recent body of work. Hot off a bustling ’90s rave scene which Zimmerman had thoroughly immersed himself in, the album is brimming with breakbeat and IDM influences.

There are traces of techno, chiptune, and glitch hop embedded throughout the work, yet perhaps most apparent of all is his predilection for more ambient soundscapes. One of the more memorable tracks is “Bored of Canada,” a clear allusion to Scottish electronic music legends, Boards of Canada, who are said to be one of Zimmerman’s bigger influences.

There’s also “I Forget:” a sullen piano composition which conjures an obvious parallel to what may be his biggest track of all time, “I Remember” with Kaskade. Channeling his affinity for deep house, “Satisfaction” is one of the only 4×4-oriented pieces on the entire release.

Overall, the gloomy, melancholic aesthetic — his sonic signature in some ways — is more poignant than ever on Get Scraped. Ten years later, it’s easy to see how Joel got to where he is today by revisiting the album. While his newer work may differ in terms of genres, it harbors the same kind of intense sentimentally and creative aptitude that first earned him notoriety over a decade ago.

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