California-based Anticon producer Alias had never heard about New York-based Rona "Tarsier" Rapadas before he got a letter from her one day in 2003, shortly after the release of his instrumental-based album Muted, telling him how much she liked his work, if he would listen to her band (Brooklyn indie electronica outfit Healamonster & Tarsier), and if he would ever consider remixing Muted with her vocals. Alias was so impressed by her samples that he immediately sent Tarsier four beats, asking her to choose one and to add her own vocal track to it. Thus began a 21-month-long email relationship in which the two parties sent each other music, never meeting face-to-face until shortly before their debut album, Brookland/Oaklyn, and the EP compilation Plane That Draws a White Line were both released in 2006.