Murcof :: Twin Color (vol. I) (InFiné)

Twin Color (vol. I), with its recontextualization of analog synthesis with post-digital methodologies, its creation of a sound at once nostalgic and future-based, bears eloquent testimony to Murcof’s continued innovation in the electronic sphere.

Continued innovation in the electronic sphere

Post-classical samples and ambient textures cut with minimal tech tropes and post-digital tweakery, Murcof‘s ambient-electronic-classical hybrid has brought him renown and quasi-iconic status, comparable to, though sonically distinct from, the likes of Alva Noto and Tim Hecker. Years on from release of his last full-length Cosmos (2007), fully two decades from the foundational Martes (2002) and Remembranza (2005), Twin Color (vol. I) marks a return to the format, and a bold step in cultivating “a slight departure from my usual aesthetics.”

“Usual aesthetics” would seem to point to a previous sui generis blend of classical sampling, glitch and ambience, the “slight departure” being new elements in Twin Color (vol. I) drawn from post-punk and synth-wave stylings, with echoes of ’80s dystopian sci-fi soundtracks, and hark backs to Fernando Corona’s Nortec Collective roots; the structure, more redolent of a feature film, has pieces form sequences in a larger narrative, dark-hued cinematics and brighter nostalgic textures commingling in tracts of complex resonance.

Twin Color also has a parallel existence as an audiovisual performance (premiered at Mutek Montréal, Aug. 2024), in collaboration with Brussels-based visual artist Simon Geilfus. Created in Paris’s IRCAM studios in 2022, it has pieces play against an arresting backdrop of moving natural landscapes, enhancing dystopian atmosphere with visuals echoing the album’s cinematic sound.

In sum, Twin Color (vol. I), with its recontextualization of analog synthesis with post-digital methodologies, its creation of a sound at once nostalgic and future-based, bears eloquent testimony to Murcof’s continued innovation in the electronic sphere.

Twin Color (vol. I) is available on InFiné. [Bandcamp]