That Qebo is able to crunch and deform electrical mayhem into digestible and flowing chunks is baffling, and how he’s able to make it sound absolutely beautiful, is a testament to his tried and true sonic methods and commitment.
Extracting the finest glitch materials from his machines in fluid and emotive trajectories
You might think Autechre’s Gantz Graf when it comes to the chilled fizz-fuzz flickering debris on “Wireframe Chase,” but in reality, Qebo (aka Athens, Greece based Alex Retsis) has been in a creative mode for just over 20-years which coincidentally was the same year “Gantz Graf” (2002, Warp) was released. But don’t let that dissuade you from thinking that Qebo is just another Ae clone, because it doesn’t matter (IDM). What does matter is that the duo contain and simultaneously extract the finest glitch materials from his machines in fluid and emotive trajectories (ref. “FE1D.”) That Qebo is able to crunch and deform electrical mayhem into digestible and flowing chunks is baffling, and how he’s able to make it sound absolutely beautiful (ref. “INNERGHOST”) is a testament to his tried and true sonic methods and commitment.
The Qebo nameplate has become synonymous with well-executed electronics merged with precision beats and melodics that splatter across glass floors. Parallels with ediT, Lexaunculpt, exm, Valance Drakes, and even Telefon Tel Aviv wouldn’t be too far off track, especially as evidenced on the glitchy microscopic vessels of “JELLY DYNAMICS.” Overall, this aptly titled album is chock full of abstract electrical signals with a heartbeat, however, if you listen to the opening epic 11-minute sound-scraping avalanche and Subotnick-like digitized noise morsels on “PROTOSELF,” you might think you’ve traveled several light years into the future.
A densely layered album of brittle and baffling braindance/glitch tracks for the roaring 20s and one we’ve already added to our top releases of 2023.
Cellular Spaces is available on Polyend. [Site]
