Experimental Techno

CAPSIZE RECOVERY takes the listener on a ride through a very dark universe of gloomy sounds and atmospheres.

the eight rather longish tracks of the album are characterized by senking‘s epic signature sounds - creepy hovering bass lines, clean and slowed down drums, paired with oscillating and sometimes fierce synth melodies and shots.

with his extremely deep and dubby arrangements that explore the depths and abysses of bass heavy music, he again is able to create soundscapes that convey a subtle sense of unease or even fear, as if they were the soundtrack to a mysterious and disturbing film.

already the opener „chainsawfish“ reflects this perfectly. a minimalistic composition of droning basses and synth pad sounds is decorated by scary voice snippets that seem to be taken from a horror movie, which eventually evokes the uncanny feeling of being haunted.

the track „tiefenstop“ - a truly telling title - is a continuation of this theme and can be seen as the lowest point of the journey where the bass is reaching ever deeper spheres. again, voice snippets are used that intensify the hectic and stressful impression of the track, but here they are juxtaposed with rather positive and balancing melody lines.

besides the omnipresent mysterious atmosphere, the overall sound of jens massel‘s new record is organic and possesses a certain live character that can also be discovered in the last track. senking, by the way, is also one of the few artists who creates his music without the use of a computer.

„enduro bones“ starts with a monotone beat to which single elements like echoes, synth sounds, and fragments of melodies are added. by means of repetitions and extensions, the track is gradually becoming more dense and complex, and therefore it seems to be a song that is being created at this very moment.

senking‘s new record is an excursion to the depths of the human psyche. it‘s like the record is reflecting a difficult situation one can get into, as well as the struggle of getting out of it again - hence the title CAPSIZE RECOVERY.

senking. shading (excerpt). taken from senking. capsizerecovery

the significant novelty of kyoka‘s first full length album »is (Is Superpowered)« is that she uses her own voice much more often than usual, in the form of short snippets as well as longer sung melodies. these elements are set and arranged as if they were an autonomous instrument, and sometimes they give the impression of being a babelesque language mix-up, or even a kind of cryptic message for the listener like found in the song »meander«.

the production process of the record was heavily supported by her label mates frank bretscheider and robert lippok, which is, in this way of forming a production team, a unique constellation in the history of raster-noton. whereas lippok focused on preserving the roughness and complexity of kyoka‘s compositions, bretschneider concentrated on refining them regarding their fluidity and focus. both tried to keep the vitality and hyperactivity of the initial tracks without losing their distinctive eccentricity.

although kyoka‘s sound is often kind of chaotic, it is by no means stressful but rather energizing and easy to enjoy. the only exception to this can be found in »piezo version vision«, the noticeably roughest track of the record. her particularly progressive style is best reflected by the song »re-pulsion«, a rolling groove combined with unusual clicks and snares and topped with crazy sounding voice fragments.

the album thus further deepens what was already initiated with her first ep »iSH«, released as part five of raster-noton‘s unun series. it presents a stylistically broader spectrum of kyoka‘s music but at the same time exhibits the fresh and positive, sometimes even childlike attitude she is already known for. this eventually renders »is (Is Superpowered)« a perfect extension of our label catalogue.

Experimental Techno

Aurore Rn