A three-pack review including the latest purveyors of experimental-electronic sound emanated from San Diego, California-based Bonding Tapes, Vienna, Austria-based Kvitnu, and Mogilev, Belarus-based People Can Listen imprints.
Asymmetrical Head :: Information World Remixes EP (Bonding Tapes)
Just a few years ago we described the original Information World EP—released on Bewegung, 2014—as “a well-balanced if not tranquil escape into subtle glitch’n bass tones peppered with microscopic ambient manipulations.” Asymmetrical Head (aka San Diego-based Will Rosario / Bonding Tapes label operator) invited like-minded musicians to slice and dice selections for this remix project—the result is a perpetual flow of intoxicating electrons. c.db.sn takes the title track through a molten stream, the bass casual and slightly tangled among downtempo veils. Valance Drakes does we he does best, the scribbling glitch mastermind transforms “Information World” into a crunchy clip-hop mutation, then evacuates any percussive trace and dives into a multi-dimensional ambient soundtrack. Sonic D crafts an abstract electro tone—bass drops and jittery melodic bubbles galore. On the more mechanical-electro migration, Randomform offers his signature experimental deformity as Zander One’s version is chock full of minimal techno strains and subdued echoes buried in dust. Balancing the genre-bending assortment, QBLA translates “Information World” into broken hip-hop, bass, beat, and a creative vocal whiplash. In all, this is a remix assemblage that bends and contorts the precision IDM tentacles.
EXO_C :: Laboyatta (Kvitnu)
Exoterrism and C_C join forces on this sonic avalanche of dense and dubby discordance. Described as “noise poetry of distorted sonic perfection,” Kvitnu elaborate once again on the fundamental properties of extreme abstract electronics—Laboyatta being the latest nine-track collage. All manner of broken machinery is transformed into engorged chaos. “Dub1” delivers this message effectively as acid squelching sounds uniformly break apart into pseudo-techno form. “Song1” is seemingly a distant cousin—gravitating gritty bass above a crumpled audiogram template. Elsewhere you’ll be hard-pressed to find any form of calm. “Up” manipulates minimal frequency bursts into a chaotic technoid AFX-like distraction. Laboyatta mines through the art of variation—that is to say it highlights pairs and even triplet tracks that appear to be altered and fractured remnants of each other. A highlight in the world of modular dub-scrapping sound effects and severely disjointed mechanical hypnosis.
Kothyus :: Vinculo Remoto EP (People Can Listen)
Tuned in with an open ear and headphones at peak volume, Kothyus’ latest EP for Belarus-based People Can Listen is an impacting musical artifact. “Dom” dips into bass-heavy beat juggling, unfolding slowly into an abstract electro beauty that ricochets into tiny pieces. Elsewhere you’ll find DSP-laden groove on “Puerta,” a diced percussive stream that bites and scratches its way into the subconscious. One may wonder where Kothyus influences can be drawn, the ever-expanding sonic landscape that this EP details is both cohesive and experimental. Take the deformed low-end antennae and robotic language spoken on “Aterrizaje virtual,” a dizzying digital explosion that rattles the senses in classic Team Doyobi style. As this EP delivers the usual allotment of grit and debris, it also maintains a fresh if not obstructive power. And yet it all seems to change when the downtempo glitch of “Vaciado” evokes guitar strands and a drifting drone suggesting that this artist has much more to display than we’re privy to on this release. A welcomed audio concoction that is equal parts distilled chaos and curiosity at its arch.
