Oberman Knocks :: Conder-Rhyptik (Aperture) — Track premiere

Ravaged clicks and mangled machinery aplenty, Conder-Rhyptik packs a baffling punch to the senses; an impenetrable sonic foray sitting comfortably on the outer edges of an expanding universe; Oberman Knocks’ muddy electronic soup is an adventurous and tumultuous trip.

An adventurous and tumultuous trip

London-based Nigel Truswell (aka Oberman Knocks) finds all the right nooks and crannies to decimate experimental electronics—delivering Conder-Rhyptik for Andrea Parker’s Touchin’ Bass sub-label, Aperture. Fractured noise, glitch, and abstract tentacles featured on Conder-Rhyptik run a parallel trajectory as current-era Autechre, Gescom, Richard Devine, and Mantle of Gets—a kudos to Oberman Knocks for continuing in this vein, expanding the abstractive genre, and forging new pathways.

There are fuzzy twitches and disheveled mechanical slants that bend and contort throughout; all while maintaining an absolute and unique flow front to back. The myriad of glitch-scapes scraping their way through (ref. “Roppstyme Gholer Stryke”) that come to life, grasping at anything in its way, are utterly surreal. Creating nightmarish and untangling rhythms (ref. “Benzontort Fluon Traps” and “Quatrik Nerf Non-Sporr”) that drift and drone, sweep and sway, are elevated by forces unbeknownst to its listeners. Ravaged clicks and mangled machinery aplenty, Conder-Rhyptik packs a baffling punch to the senses; an impenetrable sonic foray sitting comfortably on the outer edges of an expanding universe; Oberman Knocks’ muddy electronic soup is an adventurous and tumultuous trip. Just have a listen to the closing track “Appradynol Inter-Dyverr” or “Knamleck Forms Gumsun Dack Gumsun” and their cybernetic language to get a glimpse into this strange new world.

Conder-Rhyptik is available on Aperture September 30, 2022. [Bandcamp]