The Boy and The Tree

Grass, Tree and Stone

[p*dis] distribution sampler for February 2014


Kangding Ray - Solens Arc - Serendipity March (clip) <raster-noton>

Deepchord - Functional Designs
1. Amber 
2. Darkness Falls
3. Transit Systems
4. Strangers
5. Panacast 
6. CloudSat 
7. Pressure 
8. Ebb and Flow 
9. Sun 
10. Memories 
11. Drassanes

Soma proudly presents Functional Designs, the latest collection of nocturnal environments from Deepchord, marking his first full length album release on Soma in 5 years. The enigmatic Detroit based producer once again transports us into his sonic realm via night-walks through numerous cities before being transmuted into aural excellence through field recordings, holographic synth tones, cosmic sounds and the hiss of electric wires. All swimming around in filtered 4/4 beats and subterranean basslines. The album is a perfect example of electroacoustic techno transmitted from undisclosed locations, the amalgamation of swirling tapestries of sound, deeper than night and lifeforms moving around underneath the grid.

Functional Designs

Amber

1. Deepchord - Amber [Soma DA125]

Death By Invitation (I Want To Tell You A Story)

808s and engines

Stabil

Sub.Res

Dadaist

Status+Light

R-N 123 . TRACK LIST :

1 . Athem
2 . Mojave
3 . Odd Sympathy
4 . Pruitt Igoe . ( or version )
5 . Or
6 . Mirrors
7 . Coracoid Process
8 . En Amaryllis Jour
9 . Lea vaila Scheme
10 . Monsters
11 . La Belle

CREDITS	

All tracks written and produced by Kangding Ray
Voices and lyrics on Pruitt Igoe, Coracoid Process and Odd Sympathy by Magne Mostue.
Voices on Athem and Monsters by Rose Tizane Merrill.
Words on Monsters freely pirated from « T.A.Z, the temporay autonomous zone, ontological anarchy, poetic terrorism » by Hakim Bey . ( anti-copyright, 1985, 1991 ) Available at www.autonomedia.org
Progressive keys on Or by Ben Frost
Drums on Coracoid Process and Or performed by Yacine Djeradi
Percussions on Odd Sympathy performed by Achille Farese
Salamander Modular synth for Monsters wired by Matia Simovich
Mastered by Andreas « Lupo » Lubich at Dubplates & Mastering Berlin
©2010 . raster-noton . r-n 123

Press text :	

After the Pruitt Igoe E.P, Kangding Ray returns with his third album for raster-noton, pushing further his explorations on the edge of digital and analog sounds. With OR, Kangding Ray continues to blur the borders between experimental and bass music, and brings his signature sound to another level, somewhere at the darkest fringe of club culture.
With the massive metallic beats of « athem », the frightening distorded waves of « Mojave », the elevated groove of « Odd Sympathy », the modulated guitar walls of « Leavaila Scheme », or the low-bitrate Everest of « La Belle », KR creates deep atmospheres, loaded with echoes of collapsing economies, dysfunctional political systems, and corporate alienation.In an abstract manner, OR depicts the desillusions of modern civilizations, while initiating a positive reflection on crisis as a creative state.
OR (« gold » in french), as the only chemical element that seems to keep its value for eternity, refers to the cult of endless consumption and the absurdity of fluctuating currency valuations, while in english, as a logical operator or grammatical conjunction, OR represents the possibility of another choice, an « inclusive disjunction » which suggests that there might be another answer, a different path to follow.
Noticeable inputs have been provided by Ben Frost, who composed a keyboard line for « Or », Rose Tizane Merrill who lend her voice to the anarchist poem « Monsters », and Magne Mostue who wrote the words and sang on « Coracoid Process » as well as the vocal version of the prophetic electronic mantra « Pruitt Igoe ».

06 Mirrors

From the debut 2012 album "Quarter Turns Over a Living Line"

Raime - The Last Foundry

Half Light of Dawn - Abul Mogard

From his early releases on the legendary german imprint raster-noton, to his more recent output aimed at the club, Kangding Ray managed to trace a singular trajectory, navigating the unexplored territories between experimental music and dance music.

Through his consistency as both Live performer and DJ, and a number of critically acclaimed releases, Kangding Ray showed his ability to keep a genuine artistic approach, while slowly crafting a unique universe, equally focused on emotional response and visceral impact.

Kangding Ray’s music tests boundaries, evolving constantly in its exploration of texture and rhythms, while talking equally to the body and the mind.
From his past as architect, Kangding Ray kept a multidisciplinary approach to art, applying his craft in diverse artistic fields such as visual arts, film scores, audiovisual installations and dance performances.