SKSSS :: Exploraciones al Vacio (Aerial Sound)

Exploraciones Al Vacio works because it refuses to play nice. The field recordings, the layered textures, the deliberate pacing, it all adds up to something that feels purposeful rather than indulgent.

Deep emotion through sustained, hypnotic textures

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SKSSS is an Argentinian producer based in Buenos Aires who has been steadily building a catalog of experimental electronic music since the early 2020s. With releases on labels like Sufrimiento Records, Alta Costura, Sonido Atmosferico, and Vista Recordings, his work has spanned everything from glitchy IDM to field recording-heavy ambient and breakbeat-driven electronica. His self-run label Aerial Sound has become a home for his more exploratory work, and Exploraciones Al Vacio: an 8-track album produced since 2024, is his latest offering.

This leans very heavy on the experimental side rather than actual melodic ambience, so it’s a mature listen rather than one for someone looking for fun with melodies. Experimental drone music has a long history, tracing back to the minimalist movement of the 1960s when composers like La Monte Young began experimenting with sustained tones and long-form pieces that rejected traditional song structures. Drone music emphasizes sustained sounds, notes, or tone clusters with minimal harmonic variation, creating immersive soundscapes that shift slowly over time. By the 1970s, artists like Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze pushed the genre into electronic territory, using synthesizers and tape loops to create rich, textured layers of sound. In the decades since, drone has branched out into numerous subgenres, from the ethereal ambient drone of artists like Stars of the Lid and Eliane Radigue to the bone-shaking intensity of drone metal from Earth and Sunn O))). The genre’s appeal lies in its ability to alter perception and evoke deep emotion through sustained, hypnotic textures rather than melody or rhythm.

What stands out about Exploraciones Al Vacio is that SKSSS uses a lot of different sound material to keep the track momentum going and busy. This isn’t static drone, it’s active, shifting, and layered with field recordings, processed instruments, and textural elements that evolve throughout each piece. The second track, “Vibraciones Acuaticas,” is the most active track on the tracklist and displays the skill of the ambient drone genre. It’s a track that moves, breathes, and pulls you in with its density and detail. But it serves no justice to the rest of the album in terms of representing the full range that SKSSS explores here. Drone, at its best, is about patience and close listening, about finding beauty in the subtle shifts of timbre, the slow evolution of a single tone, or the interplay between layered textures.

The second and fourth tracks are the most dancier ones here, incorporating rhythmic elements that push the album into more kinetic territory. These moments feel like a nod to Juan‘s work on labels like Kalibr+ and Disturbio, where he’s explored breakbeat and club-oriented sounds. The fourth track, “Carol – Halo,” is a collaboration with Carol, and it brings a heavier, more structured feel to the album without losing the experimental edge.

Track six, “Controles Artificiales,” is a fun field recording one with sfx and different things being applied as the track progresses. There’s a female vocal chop, and it sounds very dark. The processing is heavy, and the atmosphere is thick. It’s one of the most disorienting tracks on the album, and that’s a compliment. Track seven, “Falla Tecnica,” complements it very well, the darkest on the album when it comes to tone. It’s brooding, dense, and doesn’t let up. These two tracks work as a pair, pulling the listener into a heavier, more oppressive sonic space before the album closes out.

Juan‘s Exploraciones Al Vacio works because it refuses to play nice. The field recordings, the layered textures, the deliberate pacing, it all adds up to something that feels purposeful rather than indulgent. This isn’t music you throw on in the background. It sits front and center, demanding focus, and if you give it that, you’ll find plenty to dig into. Experimental drone can be tedious when it’s aimless. This isn’t that.

Exploraciones al Vacio is available on Aerial Sound. [Bandcamp]