Press Info:
Employing a toolkit of cutting-edge DSP, Swarm Intelligence reimagines classic rave frameworks for dancefloors of the future. »Ultraware« traces a path through electro, big beat, jungle and acid – optimising and reconstructing until only fragmented traces remain.
Following up from his widely acclaimed »Against the Dying Light« album, this EP marks a new shift in the ever-evolving Swarm Intelligence sound. A relentless explorer of audio technology, here he utilizes spectral processing alongside convolution and granular synthesis to craft a gritty sonic repository for the four tracks.
Even in moments when the sequences disintegrate into chaos before reassembling into a coherent form, there is never a feeling that Swarm Intelligence is not in full control – this is an artist who thrives on complexity.
Press Info:
Rory St John returns to Voitax with »Excommunication«, a hyper-deep, futurist take on classic dub techno. Skillfully assembled, each of the four tracks hypnotically morph and evolve, forgoing the cheap tropes of today’s ‘rise and drop’ techno for a more immersive listen – one gets the feeling that each and every sound is wielded with precision, and exists exactly where and for as long as it should.
Reacting to the increasingly harder-edge sound that proliferates today’s techno, Rory St John strove to push his sound in the opposite direction. The result is sombre and introspective – a slick, reverberating antidote to mainstream anthems.
This release is markedly different to the abrasive stylings of his previous »Run Your Mouth« EP and reveals yet another side to the producer’s sonic palette.
It opens with »Castle«, a deft nod to the legendary dub techno sound that originated in early 90’s Berlin. Drifting weightlessly in lavish reverb and modulated delay, a grainy dub organ echoes over a thundering half step. As it evolves, the track blossoms into haunting melodies and lush pad swells.
The tempo climbs for »Commune«, a grimey, jungle-influenced technoid lurker. Lean and stripped back, it is propelled through its sparse microcosm by a rolling sub and tricky kick pattern. Chopped into polyrhythms, the heavily-processed breaks and fluttering hi-hats are the main focus as vocal snippets and abstract synth cuts ebb and flow, as though floating in zero gravity.
Turning the record over, »Chapel« opens the B-side. A modulated bass arpeggio reinforces a soft, yet chunky reverberated kick pattern. Subtle melodic phrases and grinding noisy textures mark the passage of the track as it steadily morphs and evolves, opening up with each passing bar. Though the core groove pounds consistently, even monotonously, the track constantly shifts and twists as it plays out an underlying narrative.
»Dream Sequence« winds things down nicely with clanging FM percussion and broken beats. Filtered-down pads, swells of reverb and delay and subtle drones all give the track a sense of existing in that moment between sleep and wakefulness, drifting peacefully in hazy warmth.
A reaction to the permeation of the ‘banging’ sound in today’s techno, this is as much a record for headphones on a midnight stroll through the city, as it is for those deeper, dancewith-your-eyes-shut moments on the main floor.
Tracklist: CD1-01. Sagittarius A (Right Ascension)
CD1-02. Pleasure Discipline
CD1-03. Ertrinken
CD1-04 . Growth Cycle [feat. Robert Owens]
CD1-05. Zahlensender
CD1-06. The Approach
CD1-07. Nylon Mood
CD1-08. Alphabet City
CD2-01. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
CD2-02. No Entiendes
CD2-03. Kurzstrecke
CD2-04. Golden Dawn [feat. Stefanie Parnow] CD2-05. Interdimensional Interferenc
CD2-06. Distant Paradise
CD2-07. Be [feat. Robert Owens]
CD2-08. Vampir
CD2-09. Downtown
Press Info:
The American cable-television industry exploded in the 1980s, pushing broadcasts of diverse programming and emissions of low-laying cultures into homes. Community stations piggybacked on the digital developments of the time, extending their existence through telephony and broadcast affiliates. For those growing up in this time, in locations such as New York City, the localized communications beamed into their homes exposed them to an impressionable array of disparate sounds and visions. Move into the 1990s and New York was filled to the brim of emergent cultures drawing from this ebullition of communication. From Rammellzee’s shapeshifting to the late Judy Russell and Frank and Karen Mendez’s Nu Groove imprint fusing reggae, poetry and house, nascent ideas emanated from the city walls, from within stores such as Sonic Groove store and on VHS releases such as Stakker’s The Evil Acid Baron Show, a legendary technicolor psychedelic trip along the wildest frontiers of acid house. As scenes expanded and identities developed, such individuals weather the events of the visceral now, expressing themselves right into an unpredictable future.
Function’s long career has seen him uncover a vast range of sonic identities, a mainstay through house, techno and industrial with collaborations with the likes of Regis, Damon Wild alongside his highly influential Infrastructure imprint. With influences deeply tied to pop art, rave and gay scenes, and early memories of block-parties emitting Kraftwerk and Strafe, he found himself seeking out the undercover illegal nights of the 90s on a quest of sexual unearthing, mixing the ever-yearning escapology mission of disco with the influential DJ sets of Jeff Mills. For his new album Existenz, he marks a clear step away from the corporeal techno of his recent releases. Pivoting around themes of religion, sexuality, trauma and healing, it is a work expansive and celebratory, a clear liberation from a deeply internalized past. Formed from a collection of recordings made in a period from late 2016 to mid 2019, Existenz takes the form of a creative outburst in reaction to a number of traumas – recent, childhood and throughout Function’s life. Life partner Stefanie Parnow assisted the production process in its entirety, providing inspiration, spiritual healing and featuring vocal contributions.
Cosmic synths soar and swoop in ‘Pleasure Discipline’ through towering stacks of rhythm that stutter and creak to a halt before rebooting, a firm robotic response to human intervention. ‘Zahlensender’ reflects a spatial tetris of urban life, as digitalization set within an XYZ matrix confronts the sprawling city. Constant arpeggiated meditations echo synaptic transmissions, effecting a dissolution of boundaries. ’The Approach’ recalls the unification of the self, a state of delirium non-subjective and smooth, as all connections and functions give way to simple intensities of feeling, crossing the threshold into spirituality. ’Golden Dawn’, featuring Stefanie Parnow, marks a further elevation of dubbed-out euphoria, as once more positive rays emerge. His ode to the effortless short-trip urban navigation ‘Kurzstrecke’ finds Function in motion, upfront and bold, snapshots of conversation and flickers of light. ‘Ertrinken’ finds metallic bass jabs swamping snipped synthetic voices, with hidden stores of emotion set as a nod to the history of vocoders as a tool for encrypted military communication. House icon Robert Owens features on ‘Growth Cycle’ and ‘Be’, entrenching a celebratory atmosphere over Function’s clubwise leanings. Closing track ‘Downtown 161’ reflects the unmistakeable filtered and squashed interjections of television, and sampled dance vocals – a sound for the curious, dreamers and dancers.
With Existenz, Function reveals an essential body of work, spread over 4LP/2CD – thought experiments on the role of identity and spirituality after a lifetime of upheaval and trauma. Leading up until the release date, Function will undertake an album promo tour with select dates – A/V shows at Berlin Atonal and Rural festival in Japan, and three dates as part of his Bassiani residency.
