@design-default - Quartz Silica EP
Format: Digital
Release: December 2nd, 2022
Artwork by Benfika

Marking the 100th record of the imprint’s prolific history, Infinite Machine are proud to present the release of Quartz Silica EP by new-comer Design Default. A self-described ‘tone scientist’, the Parisian delivers a 5-track of uniquely textural compositions which map out a sonic world influenced by dystopian anime titles like Trigun & Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like many on the IM discography, Quartz Silica acts almost like a simulation or audio-film representation of an abstract space you’re invited to traverse.

The EP opens with ‘Between Wasteland and Sky’; percussive assault on your senses which clearly exemplifies Design Default’s meticulous approach to sound design. Every detail, every sample and every automation is carefully considered to add to the heightened affective theatrics heard here.

‘A.S.K’ follows things up on this release, a highly inventive composition with a loose structure that evolves from phrase-to-phrase, refusing to sit still. Design Default’s interest in jazz and free-form arrangements is married up with an angular sonic palette of industrial groans and splutters; generating the impression of hearing a glitch (or hiccup, even) in the machine. There’s something refreshingly playful about the maximalistic breakdown of ‘A.S.K’ akin to the wry smile found in some of AYA and her YCO label’s output.

After two highly frenetic tracks, Design Default turns the tempo down slightly with the groove-laden ‘S.E.E.D.S’. Layers of rich, fuzzy synapses phase in and out of prominence over a bed of complex drum programming. The producer deploys negative space here to great effect, with the absence of a drum hit or sample where you might expect one adding to the hypnotic rhythmic swing of ‘S.E.E.D.S’.

Rounding out the originals of Quartz Silica EP, ‘SILEX’ is a club-ready construction with a paint-shaking bassline which seems to slip downwards in pitch as if it can’t get steady footing. Again, Design Default’s tone science/alchemy shines through clearly here, with stutters of melodies, bursts of white noise and stacked drum patterns managing to sit cohesively in this dynamic expanse.

Fellow Parisian De Grandi jumps on remix duties for ‘S.E.E.D.S’ to finish off the EP. The Paradoxe Club signee adds further syncopation and strips the original’s elements down to its fundamental core. The results are a spectral creeper of a tune - built almost intentionally with dark, low ceiling environments in mind.

Design Default - Between Wasteland And Sky

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