Artist:
Barker
Title:
Stochastic Drift
Label:
Smalltown Supersound
Cat#:
STSLP425
Release Date:
04th April 2025
Format:
vinyl, download & streaming
Tracklist:
01.
Force Of Habit
02.
Reframing
03.
Difference And Repetition
04.
The Remembering Self
05.
Positive Disintegration
06.
Cosmic Microwave
07.
Fluid Mechanics
08.
Stochastic Drift
Press Info:
Following 2023’s Unfixed EP and his first full-length release since his 2019 debut album Utility, Stochastic Drift builds on Barker’s singular process to capture life’s chaos and reflect on just how much has changed. If his previous records showcased the artist “using ambient materials to remake techno” (Pitchfork), Stochastic Drift pushes Barker’s approach even further into harmonic chaos and dreamy freeform float.
Utility, the fullest expression of the beatless techno experimentation Barker excavated on his cult classic Debiasing EP, arrived to critical fanfare from The Quietus, DJ Mag, Resident Advisor, and Mixmag (who named it their Album Of The Year). The years since the release of Utility have been marked by intense unpredictability: Barker’s own shifting attitudes towards production, moments of professional transition and, not least, a global pandemic, necessitated somewhat of a reinvention.
Stochastic Drift sees Barker creating tracks with a fresh deftness and appreciation for the unexpected. “I’d been working with an approach that was quite deliberate and goal-oriented before, but I realised this wasn’t so helpful in the context of uncertainty. Being suddenly unemployed and stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time, with one disruption after another, it was like the target kept moving and I didn’t know what to aim at.” Barker reflects. “I noticed this unpredictability starting to creep into what I was making, and tracks were ending up a long way from the intentions they started with. So the challenge for this record was to try to embrace that process, to let go of expectations.” The serotonin-spiking lead single “Reframing,” titled after psychological technique for reinterpreting a situation in a positive way, unfolds like a brittle reimagining of Sasha’s eternal prog trance standard “Xpander” until it begins to drift through uncharted territory.
Throughout Stochastic Drift, Barker dives deeper into the world of mechanical instrumentation. Barker explains: “My interest in mechanical instruments is not to replace a human performer, but to explore the tool in a different way, maybe dehumanize it a little bit and look for the potential outside of what humans have already perfected.” Addressing anxiety about the influence of automation in music making head on, Barker emphasises that, regardless of the technology implemented and how this might enable the artist, machines of all sorts, be they robots, synths or instruments, are simply tools. It’s the creative act that remains resolutely human.
“I wanted to explore the link between my internal and external realities, between the chaos of the time and how that was manifesting in my music and ideas,” Barker says of Stochastic Drift. “It’s a transition between lots of shifting realities, describing a process in a window of time that was full of change.” As though finding comfort in unpredictability, the artist pieces together a new sound and in so doing finds a salve for uncertainty.
Full Track Streaming:
Special:
“RA.982”
Recommendations:
Barker’s “BARKER002” on Ostgut Ton
Barker’s “BARKER001” on Ostgut Ton
Barker’s “Utility” on Ostgut Ton
Barker’s “Debiasing” on Ostgut Ton
“Strung (Remixes)” by Barker & Baumecker on Freundinnen
“Strung EP” by Barker & Baumecker on Freundinnen
“Turns” by Barker & Baumecker on Ostgut Ton
Barker’s “Like An Animal EP” on Leisure System
MG’s “The Third Chimpanzee (Remixed)” w/ Barker remix on Mute
Buy Vinyl:
Barker @ Bandcamp
WOM
Clone
Red Eye Records
Juno
Decks
Deejay
iMusic
HHV
Boomkat
Bleep
more soon
Buy Download:
Barker @ Bandcamp
Qobuz
Beatport
iTunes
Boomkat
TraxSource
JunoDownload
Bleep
7Digital
Clone Digital
more soon
Commercial Streaming Services:
Tidal
Qobuz
Anghami
Deezer
Apple Music
Spotify
Youtube Music
Booking:
Barker
Websites:
Barker
Barker @ Instagram
Barker @ Soundcloud
Smalltown Supersound
Smalltown Supersound @ Facebook
Smalltown Supersound @ Instagram
