FACT reports today that Ewan Robertson, the Scottish-born Big Dada artist known to most as Offshore, has passed away. On the website for the London imprint is this statement:

“It is with great sadness that we have to tell you that Ewan Robertson (a.k.a. Offshore) has died. Ewan has been a stalwart of the Big Dada label for many years, first as a volunteer while he studied graphic design at St. Martins, secondly, with Oscar Bauer, as one of the greatest designers ever to work for Ninja Tune or Big Dada, responsible for iconic covers such as the Wiley ‘black playground’ image for Playtime Is Over, the Roots Manuva slime-head for Slime & Reason and Bonobo’s Black Sands triptych. Lastly, Ewan became one of Big Dada’s recording artists as Offshore, when he played us some of the music he was working on and we were once again blown away by his talent and the originality of his vision.

An incredibly subtle man, part of his talent was to make difficult things look easy. His recent record, Bake Haus, was one such example, apparently thrown off without breaking a sweat, but actually the result of considerable thought and skill – the minimalism a deliberate choice, beautifully delivered on. He was also, in addition to his many talents, one of the finest individuals we have had the honour of working with – straightforward, positive, funny and understated, he was a proper gent. We will miss him terribly and send all our love to Jen and his family, whose loss is so much greater.”

Robertson’s work has appeared on XLR8R for over two years, as his productions always offered a unique spin on the hip-hop-inspired realm of electronic music. His most recent appearance was with the stately opening track from Bake Haus, “Breeze.” Listen to the entirety of Offshore’s mini-LP below.