Latency, a Paris-based label focusing on electronic music and record design, has announced a very fine duo of upcoming releases for April and May. First comes a suite of analogue dub-techno titled Kulthan by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe. And second, we have Sander, an EP by Milanese duo Bellows (Giuseppe Ielasi and Nicola Ratti).
Do you already know Lowe’s Lichens project? I hope not, because I’m about to tell you aaaaaall about it, kid-o. That’s right, I’m your father! Ears open, OK? So, son, basically Lowe centered his Lichens project around modular synthesis and his voice, building looped and layered drones through the fusion of the two, creating a sort of cybernetic basis for most of Lichens’ songs. Ooh, here’s a good example… right here! (Gosh I hope that worked. Son, you won’t believe how long it took your Mom and I to figure out these “hyperlinks.” We had to call cousin Chris.)
Lowe has engaged with more rhythmic composition as well, though, notably with two releases under his own name on DDS (2016) and Type (2012). Arrangement-wise, Kulthan makes a deep linkage between Lichens and Lowe’s eponymous, more rhythmic work by incorporating vocal manipulations into these long-form groove-structures, speaking to the genre of dub-techno while existing on a very different sonic plane — drum-machines foregone for the fine tonal control of synthesis. You can hear it in the burbling modulations of “Magnamite” (at the end of the article) or either of the two releases referenced above.
Lovely Chris told me about cybernetics. Super cool! Hey, your ol’ dad is doing alright, eh? Whew. OK, now onto the next.
Ielasi and Ratti’s Sander is an improvised affair utilizing tape loops and analogue electronics. Much like Lowe’s work, its five untitled tracks fall somewhere between rhythm and ambiance, hypnotic in their arrangement of sound. The duo have previously released projects under the Bellows moniker through the superb labels Boomkat Editions and Ent’racte (Chris said to use “superb”).
Exact release dates for the two records are unannounced, but you can expect Kulthan in April and Sander in May, so keep refreshing Latency’s website in the Netscape online box on your terminal screen until then. Anyway! Chris says hi. He wants to come visit and show you the “bong.” Have you heard that word? Is it like a football? L-O-L. O-M-G. Pee-paw logging out!
More about: Bellows, Giuseppe Ielasi, Lichens, Nicola Ratti, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
