Martin Johan Stääf (born 13 November 1978), also known as Liquid Stranger, is a Swedish-born electronic musician, described by Generation Bass as "the epitome of Transnational Dubstep covering everything from Latin, Asian, Eastern European and Jamaican Dancehall dubs.
Martin Woods of Chillbase describes Liquid Stranger's music as a "unique blend of Ambience, Big Band Jazz, Dubstep and Psychedelica drizzled over electronic Dub Reggae grooves.
Stääf started experimenting with synthesizers in the mid 80s and abandoned the classical music world to spend the next 10 years producing his own material.
[4] In 1997 Martin Stääf formed the music group Necton together with Patrik Olsén, mainly focusing on progressive and psychedelic trance.
"[6] Liquid Stranger's creative output ranges from suggestive Ambient soundscapes to movie scores, pop, dub, infernalia, drill n bass, and electronica.
When asked in an interview why he moved away from the trance scene, Stääf replied: "I never really switched per se, I have always made tons of different types of music.
Rick Anderson of Allmusic wrote about Liquid Stranger "As someone who has previously worked in progressive rock, punk, techno, breakbeat, and IDM genres, Staaf brings a certain sophistication to his Interchill-style dubtronica, and there is lots to hear for those who take the trouble to listen closely: the brass and orchestral samples bubbling beneath the surface of the gently churning dub of Liquid Stranger on the Run.
.we give this record two thumbs way up and a standing ovation",[13] and Raves.com described it as "A taste of the experimental, a chunk of tribal, all wrapped around a root of dub excellence.
Seb Taylor from Kaya Project plays Steel Guitar on the songs His Fully Automatic Wheelbarrow, and Dew Point.
Dub-connection wrote of the album "the production varies and waves between an electro-dub chill-out and powerful tracks in the limit of drum and bass with a bit of stepper to spice the sound.
"[16] Morpheus Music wrote of the album "The diverse roots of Liquid Stranger's sound sprawl across electro, ambient, grime, global, breaks and garage.
This album features 10 dark and energetic Dubstep songs, described by Music and Happy Life as "totally devastating dance-floor monsters.
"[18] The album received high praise in the electronic music scene, with the song "Ripple" hitting number 1 on Beatport's top download charts for an extended period of time.
In May 2022, the Swedish producer Liquid Stranger shared with Billboard magazine in his own words the practices that help him manage the stress of the music industry and how he can implement these strategies in his own life, this after being diagnosed with a mental health disease.