distortion

Welcome to the 24th edition of MUTEK Montreal! This year, we have prepared a playlist that showcases local and international artists from the electronic and digital scene, and we hope you will enjoy the diversity of the artists and musical styles it presents. Get ready to immerse yourself in a unique sonic experience as you await the live performances from August 22nd to 27th at the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal.

MUTEK Édition 24

@kindergartenrecords serves up a new VA packed with head-spinning club fuel, each track a twisted example of the label's penchant for cutting-edge sonics and wrong-footed rhythmic exploration. Fans of the label will know what (not) to expect from @despinadespina by now, this being the NYC producer's fourth appearance on the label. Their track "Form In Foam" stomps about with good-natured menace, hazy textures framing its lumbering kicks and dominant bassline to propel a grandiose, squelching rain dance.

Mastering: Curve Pusher

Artwork: je_fous_le_camp

Fluo II

Pre-order

PREMIERE: Despina - Form In Foam [KINDER007]

Animistic Beliefs - MERDEKA

With their profound take on electronic music, Animistic Beliefs have steadily solidified their spot in the global underground. Influenced by cultural concepts such as ancestry, animism and mythology, as well as the languages of political techno, punk, bubbling and IDM, Linh Luu and Marvin Lalihatu consistently translate their visions into sensitive productions as well as high-octane live performances. On their new record, MERDEKA, the artists explore and embrace their cultural heritage in all of its pride, pain and complexity. MERDEKA symbolizes Animistic Beliefs’ breaking free, coming to terms with their changing selves and letting go of external expectations. The record rethinks childhood memories, confronts the generational trauma left by (post-)colonialism, and re-connects Linh and Marvin – respectively of Vietnamese-Chinese and Dutch-Moluccan descent – with their formative cultures. 

MERDEKA marks their first step in an overall departure from western club music. For its layered sound, Animistic Beliefs once again draw from the past, present and future of global club music, creating a sonic space where fast techno, warped breakbeats and ambient soundscapes make way for the augmented influence of (Southeast Asian) tribal music. 
The record incorporates Indonesian scales and recordings of 
the Tahuri (a wind instrument made out of a conch shell), Totobuang (Gamelan-like gongs) and Tifa drums, known as ‘the Moluccan heartbeat’. 
There is no audible distinction between old and new, between organic and digital, between instrumentation and voice. 
It is through words that the artists further touch on their experience; To Dream About Water opens with a stirring spoken word fragment by Marvin, marking the first time his voice is recognizably featured, whereas Khi Minh Gap Lai (‘Until We Meet Again’) centres on a Vietnamese poem by Linh, in which she beseeches her ancestors and finds a safe haven for unanswered questions. 

In true Animistic Beliefs fashion, MERDEKA will set fire to sweltering clubs and (sleepless) dreams. Yet, for the artists, it is essential to amplify the stories that spark that flame and keep it burning. 
The release of MERDEKA follows CACHE/SPIRIT, their ongoing collaboration with visual artist Jeisson Drenth, which extensively explores the artists’ intersectional identities. As such, the latest album is the next step within a bigger, introspective investigation. More unapologetic than ever, MERDEKA embodies a turning point on Animistic Beliefs’ ongoing journey towards self-acceptance – fuelled by the sound of urgency. 
credits
released August 26, 2022 

Written and produced by: Marvin Lalihatu and Linh Luu 
Artwork by: Don Elektro 
Mastered by: Rashad Becker

Poetry In Earthly Whispers

Fresh off the back of her recent DJ Kicks compilation release and an EP for Shall Not Fade in 2021, Cinthie returns to Will Saul’s Aus imprint for her first EP release of 2022, once again delivering her raw, energetic House sound to the world. Title-cut ‘Light A Fire’ leads the way and lays down organic drums, hypnotic vocal lines and choppy stab sequences alongside bumpy bass tones, intricately unfolding synth swells, resonant bleeps, and dynamic delays, resulting in a big sun-drenched anthem to perfectly set the tone. ‘Keeping Strong’ follows next and employs classic House tropes via gritty string stabs, plucked bass notes and dubbed out vocal cuts, running atop skippy, swinging drums for six and a half minutes. ‘Everything’ then rounds out the release, diving deeper this time as Cinthie employs dubbed out chords, weighty subs, crunchy percussion, and cinematic, elongated strings swells, concluding the release with a smooth, emotive feel.
BUY:
https://www.decks.de/track/cinthie-light_a_fire/ck3-sd
https://www.juno.co.uk/products/cinthie-light-a-fire/896635-01/
https://www.phonicarecords.com/product/view/182704

PREMIERE: Cinthie - Keeping Strong [Aus Music]

Taken from: .VRIL - Animist - Delsin Records - 152dsr

pre-order
vinyl: https://www.delsinrecords.com/release/7286/vril/animist
digital: https://vrilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/animist

Channelling his own explorations in search of the soul inside the machine, VRIL draws from the deep well of his live performances to present his third LP for Delsin, Animist. Inside lie 12 pieces which seem to probe at the unknowable distance between tangible consciousness and the astral plane, imbuing even the most seemingly synthetic of materials with a living essence. Given his illustrious back catalogue, it’s no surprise to hear VRIL conjure explicitly electronic music with such loaded emotional impact and seemingly organic animus, but in the process he also toys with the idea of how far the technology’s spiritual potential can reach.

Artwork by Daniel M. Diaz.

Buy @ Delsin Shop

.VRIL - Zūkunftsstrāße (taken from 152DSR)

upsammy - Being is a Stone
Label: PAN
Cat.No.: PAN 132S
Release Date: 02 March 2023
Purchase: https://pan.lnk.to/BeingisaStone

upsammy shares ‘Being is a Stone’, the first single from the upcoming full-length album ‘Germ in a Population of Buildings’ out via PAN on May 5th.

Mastered by Rashad Becker
Mixed by James Ginzburg
Artwork by Jonathan Castro Alejos and Tharim Cornelisse

upsammy - Being is a Stone (PAN 132S)

She looked underneath her bed. Her parents were snoring from across the hall. From beneath her bed, two iridescent eyeballs peered back at her. The monster was awake. She reached into her nightgown pocket and pulled out a packet of BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF: SENSATIONAL STRAWBERRY BUBBLEGUM and slid it across the floorboards.

The monster seized the packet, and emptied the entire packet of gum into his cave-like mouth. The flavours erupted on his taste buds, his eyes widened and his fur stood static. Taking a deep inhale of breath, he blew a bubble bigger than his head. The girl reached out, popping it with her finger. The gum ruptured, showering the monster’s fur with a blanket of pink.

Based in the Netherlands, Carmen Jaci is a French-Canadian producer exploring the fragmented nature of memories from the frivolous days of childhood. On her newest album ‘Happy Child’, Jaci continues to surprise and provoke with her nostalgic loop-based sonic elements. Out this spring on Noumenal Loom, the LP reflects on childlike wonder and welcomes listeners into a surreal universe through Jaci’s eccentrically layered synthesizers and vocal recordings.

PREMIERE: Carmen Jaci - oh ah eh ih ah oh [Noumenal Loom]

Pre-order the album here: https://smarturl.it/volumemassimo

Amore Amaro is taken from the forthcoming studio album VOLUME MASSIMO. 
Released on Mute 27 September 2019.

Volume Massimo Live-AV tour includes:

30 August - Atonal, Berlin
8 September - Up to Date Festival, Białystok
14 September - Draaimolen, Tilburg
22 September - TBA, Japan
28 September - Sonica, Ljubljana
19 October - Barbican, London
20 October -  LEV Matadero, Madrid
21 October - St Paul`s Sessions, Athens
25 October - Semibreve, Braga
6 November - Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm
8 November - Mira Digital Arts Festival, Barcelona
30 November - KoncertKirken, Copenhagen
6 December - Monk, Rome
7 December - Argo 16, Venice
11 December - Bozar Electronic Series, Brussels
11 April -  Concertgebouw, Bruges

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/alessandrocortiniofficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alehan/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blindoldfreak 
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/blindoldfreak

AMORE AMARO

FLEX001

Article

Premiere: N/OBE - Cistern

https://soundcloud.com/avernianofc
https://soundcloud.com/cressida

Joining the NHS team is Manchester’s own Avernian, whose presence amongst many other contemporary electronic music producers has shone brightly through a slew of releases on Daniel Haaksman’s Man Recordings, Scuffed Records, Row & Circular Jaw; a refined synergy of worldly instrumentation and modern mechanical sounds characterized by oblique rhythm structures defines his works. His foray into the NHS realm comes in the form of ‘Ripper’ – a battle-ready EP that encompasses the stages of conflict through rolling drum work and thunderous atmospheres.

We are called into battle with the title track ‘Ripper’ whose namesake suggests a sense of tearing and viciousness. Commencing with the ominous gong that swims through the emptiness at the beginning of the piece, we are immediately crushed by the monstrous kick drum sequence that dominates the mix of delicate distortion on the hats and mid frequency African percussion guiding it forward.

Following on is ‘Tornado’ taking a much more-fuller, bolder approach to the quality of the soundscape. Still carrying the same focus on rhythm primarily, Tornado chugs along as the 4x4 kick pattern carries the polyrhythmic force into the eye of the storm. Double time tabla keep the furious pace spinning around the outside of the intricate structure of this anarchic clash personified.

Taking the relentlessness of Tornado, Glacial Industries affiliate ELLLL expels the track into the nothingness of space with an exercise in low-end mastery. A distinct lack of high-end sounds, complex, rumbling sub bass hooks and its hammering rhythm help create the haunting mood on her reinterpretation of Tornado, an ideal soundtrack to the aftermath of the devastating storm.

Our last stand is not one that we take on alone; Avernian is joined by Cressida on ‘Canary’. Breathy risers maximise the forcefulness of the rhythmic madness on Canary. Rough, distorted smashes and crashes, much like that of the metal of swords and shields engaged in conflict, maintain the constant energy of the ensuing struggle. A powerful conclusion to the EP, though the war carries on.

Artwork by Benfika
Mastering by Doug Shearer

Ripper - EP

Buy EP

Avernian & Cressida - Canary

Clemency presents References (Remixed) - three re-interpretations of her debut EP by Perko, Boofy and Jennifer Walton. 

Each remix builds on the sparse dissonant sounds of Clemency’s original production into three heavyweight soundsystem workouts. 

Perko works ‘Testimony’ into a wriggling, hypnotic drum workout; 
Boofy leans into ‘Biblical Names’’ subby rhythmic momentum; 
Jennifer Walton pairs ‘Mimic Animals That Are Easy to Love’s menacing sirens with apocalyptic 303s and unforgiving percussion. 

References was originally released with a collection of Clemency’s own personal references - including poetry, fiction, coordinates and cosmetics - that inspired the record. References (Remixed) comes with new references from each remixer to accompany their interpretations.

Jennifer Walton's References

Saje - Peppermint Halo Essential Oil Roll On 
Christopher Lasch - The Culture of Narcissism
DJAX RECORDS - The power of the underground (1989 - 1999)
Long Covid Delirium 
Metahaven - Uncorporate Identity
White Tiger Balm

Mimic Animals That Are Easy To Love (Jennifer Walton Remix)

Forced to pause the events in the spring, our restlessness has manifested itself in the form of a debut label release: a 21-track genre spanning compilation.

We chose to work closely with friends and family, artists that have an affiliation with AM, each expressing themselves in their freest forms from broken-techno, glitchy breakbeats and mutant dancehall, to IDM & electro.

@de_grandi

De Grandi - How Do You Know (Accidental Meetings)

Label based in Berlin, est. 2008. http://www.p-a-n.org