KANGDING RAY
STABIL

raster-noton has established a core group of artists, many of which were undiscovered talents. in this tradition the new release is no exception.

kangding ray aka david letellier arrives at raster-noton artist collective with his first album »stabil«. born in france and based in berlin, letellier evolved as a guitarist and drummer in various bands whose influences ranged from rock and pop to jazz before moving into electronic music. »stabil« is a reflection of letellier's background as it integrates guitar loops, bass lines, residual noise, acoustic instruments and digital anomalies to create a textured soundscape. as the label is looking into new directions, kangding rays' debut makes its mark as an interesting attempt to find a balance between the flow of melodies and the ever changing structure of rhythm.

STABIL . 2006 . raster-noton . r-n073

Gescom Cicada 2

Produced slowly and meticulously over the last 12
months, these seven tracks are the closet thing we've
had to a new album from Andy Stott since the release
of his debut full-length Merciless five years ago.
Taking influence from an array of seemingly incoherent
noises, from the indefinable and unforgettable mindtricks
of Arthur Russell to the slowhouse of Kassem
Mosse, from the alternate VHS realities of James
Ferraro and Jamal Moss to the Linn Drum classics of the
vintage Prince era - these seven tracks create their own
pace and agenda, largely shying away from the
dancefloor in favour of something more complex and
hard to define.
Following on from the tribal malfunctions of opening
intro Signature, New Ground heads into a chasm of
layered loops, creating a decimated and re-wired funk
template coloured in with frayed percussion and
dislodged vocal samples. North To South starts off from
similar ground but adds a shuffling vibe at a deceptively
intoxicated 110 bpm.
Intermittent is something altogether different, taking
perfectly formed Boogie templates and screwing with
them until nothing quite fits, brittle elements floating in
and out of time yet somehow keeping it together,
before Dark Details delivers the most dancefloor
compatible six minute stretch of the set, all clanging
stabs and dense percussion, somewhere between
Shackleton and Bam Bam.
Execution and Passed Me By end things off on a slowed
down tip, the former deploying an anaesthetised and
padded 4/4 template sunk deeper into the abyss by
deformed, time-stretched vocals, the latter ending off
proceedings with a more delicate palette, letting go of
all that pent-up emotion with nothing but that rumbling
low-end and some strings for company.

Execution

»sleepstep« is the first collaboration between raster-noton and dasha rush. the record‘s subtitle »sonar poems for my sleepless friends« describes its underlying concept – »sleepstep« is a trip through electronically alienated microcompositions and sound collages that, interwoven with text passages, aim at creating a dream-like atmosphere.

the stations of this journey are striving for oblivion of time, an immersion, a drifting in universal states – death, life, birth, grief, desire. the titles often appear to be raw sketches, fugitive, surreal short stories that rather want to break open than execute.

the musical arrangement, in this context, can be described as rather subtle and fragile. though electronically manipulated, no production technique is pushing itself to the fore. and though clichés are not dreaded, »sleepstep«, as a result, stays away from being cliché. the sonar poems for her sleepless friends are feminine, subtle and personal reports. a musical dream journey in the form of a classical concept record – an album that also stands in the tradition of ambient music.

dasha rush is already known as a techno dj and producer. here on »sleepstep«, she celebrates her alter ego. the cd version comes with a 32-pages booklet that also shows her photographic interest and includes the aforementioned poems written by her. furthermore there is 2 x 12" vinyl version.


08.Lumiere Avant Midi

good.swimmer

Recur

Lens

Stabil

Interrompu Court

Sub.Res

Visible

Cyan

_Isoline

Nine

Listen to all tracks from ‘Utility’ in full at https://sambarker.bandcamp.com/album/utility

On his debut solo LP ‘Utility’, Barker [@voltek] turns his focus toward melding experimentation and dancefloor pragmatism with the psychology behind the musical decision making process.

‘Utility’ is a playful but non-ironic musical approach to a whole spectrum of utilitarian and transhumanist ideas: from models for quantifying pleasure and “gradients of bliss” to abolishing suffering for sentient beings (not just people) through the ethical use of drugs and nanotechnology. Over nine tracks, Barker’s vision ebbs and flows through waves of deeply psychedelic musical vignettes; free-floating and futuristic melodies and rhythms as targeted brain stimulation.

Listen now in full

Barker | Gradients Of Bliss

Hongkong Remastered

Credits :
Cover design by nibo
mastered by - bo kondren
all tracks written and produced by david letellier
Tracks 5 & 7 contain keyboard samples
by Vincent Feuillet.

© 2006 Raster-Noton.
Archiv für Ton und Nichtton.


Nn-Peaks

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.

Nine

Kangding Ray

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