Avian Electronic & Dance 19 Items

An unbound, rolling matrix of white noise & wrought iron percussion, replete with disembodied choirs that pan uncomfortably in and out of the sonic hinterland.

Swedish disruptors Shxcxchcxsh return to Avian. Following on from 2018’s Shulululu EP, the duo are back channeling their sound-design focused experimentalism into a brace of characteristically high energy recordings. Melding contemporary explorations in rhythm and texture with more traditional club tropes, Kongestion places recognizable leitmotif’s from the dance music continuum in the context of the pair’s inimitable production prowess A1 Kong and follow up Onge offer two takes on a similar template that marry a stepping kick drum pattern with dense, ever-shifting granules of processed white noise. The mentasm sample, that will become a recognizable device across the EP’s course, provides it’s own twisted energy – front and center on the former, and sunk – but no less effective, on the latter. With Nges Shxcxchcxsh draw on their beatless material for inspiration, inviting a more musical sensibility into the work. What begins life as a staccato, monotonal recording develops slowly and organically into an emotive patchwork piece – drawing on the mentasm, but this time twisting it further and introducing a bassline and shuffling hats. Relentless rhythm track Gest follows – a dense, thorny construction that segues neatly into Esti, another more caustic composition that places it’s focus on intricate, delay-driven sound design with ghostly lead tones that operate just below the surface. As the record approaches it’s close, the duo showcase their range with Stio – a pulsing, meditative ambient cut. Final track Tion wraps up the EP neatly, acting as a fulcrum for the themes explored so far. Bending the mentasms into a hook, the artists create a wall of undulating sound, broken by sporadic kick drum hits and propelled forward with percussive strikes that run through the track before dissolving into soft reverb tails. releases March 11, 2022 Written and Produced by Shxcxchcxsh. Mastered by Rashad Becker @ Clunk, Berlin. Artwork & Design by Atact.uk © Avian 2022 Distribution:: Ready Made Distribution

Jan Grebenstein under his Geza Moniker, Techno with a funky experimental edge! Written & Produced by Jan Grebenstein. Mastered by Neel @ EnissLab, Rome. Artwork & Design by atact UK.

Shifted offers the latest distillation of his trademark sound. Following on from the recent release of “The Dirt On Our Hands” – Guy Brewer’s fourth studio album and the first to arrive on his own Avian imprint, “Constant Blue Light” – another full length, explores new avenues in caustic minimalism. Eschewing the booming effervescence of his own more plosive dance floor material – Shifted takes a no less nuanced, but decidedly more introspective angle on this new LP. At the centre of Brewer’s practice as an artist, there has always been a sense of dedication to the refinement of a singular idea. In some ways “Constant Blue Light” represents a move closer to the apex of this approach. Opener “Slowly Counting Backwards” creates the framework for the record – reduced and meditative, owing somewhat to previous work, but still crisper and more precise. “Natural Elevation” riffs on airy patches that hiss and bend while “The Weight of It” transmits an unsettling hysteria with flanging leads and untethered rhythmic components. On the B side, the ominous dirge of “Soft Palate” brings a kind of uncanny energy to proceedings before “Into Your Ocean” utilises exquisite FM tones to create a captivating sonic montage. “Several Instances” hinges on dense low end and scattering white noise, before giving way to the machinations of “Clotting Time”. Closing piece “This I Know” offers a stunning, crystalline finish to the LP – upping the ante in its final minutes before giving way to a hiss of delay trails. A continued exploration from a focused and diligent artist that provides yet another fully formed and beautifully articulated component to his own discography and that of the Avian label.

D Leria debuts on Avian. Giuseppe Scaccia shows his range on a new six track EP, arriving late 2020. Produced diligently across the last two years, the record showcases a range of styles. Tonally, the material is bound by a recognisable engineering palette – driven, but not to the point of corrosion, tight and focused in the low end with caustic, percussive synth patches driving much of the more dance floor material. In the terms of the form, though – Scaccia draws for a disparate arrangement. Opener A Life On The Run clocks in at over 140bpm, with a demented lead synth line providing the action buoyed by a simplistic drum machine rhythm. Divergences offers a more immersive experience in terms of tempo – again letting the lead do the work, while shifting hats operate around the sonic periphery to break up the recording. On Il Giardino Degli Unicorni the artist utilises a single, staccato sequence, letting the sends do the bulk of the business with careful processing and live articulation helping to build the intensity. On the flip, pulsing workout Noises from The Room develops surreptitiously over its run time – fathoms deep kicks are submerged under a heated sequence and Red Flowers, an exercise in careful reduction reintroduces a little musicality to the record, before warping closer Tribalism places the listener back on the dance floor with a half-time rhythm driving the droning sound design. A careful meeting point at which the multiple styles that underpin Scaccia’s D Leria project meet, Still Standing offers insight into how future work might manifest whilst remaining a valuable document on the current state of both left field Techno music and the artist’s own creative identity.

Its two years since SHXCHCXSHX released SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs on Avian. The duo are back withheir 'SHULULULU' EP.

Reeko debuts on Avian. In recent years, the Spanish producer’s name has become synonymous with exquisitely produced, hyper-functional Techno variants. Releases via Pole Group and Planet Rhythm as well as the artist’s own Mental Disorder outlet have seen Juan Rico develop a distinctive sound that places elements of Noise & Ambient within a contemporary Techno framework – harnessing a dense, abrasive energy without compromising groove. Layers of ethereal pads, filtered noise and feedback FX are compounded into a tight, mono space, pushing back on powerful, propulsive low end – making for a decidedly heady listening experience.

Litüus returns to Avian. Sparse and reflective, the Chicago native’s work occupies a curious space on the periphery of the Techno genre. By stripping back the music to all but its most vital elements – most notably the Sequence, but at the same time maintaining a sense of urgency in its articulation, Litüus crafts exquisite, ghostly shadows of busier, more fleshed out material. Neither intro nor outro, but rather suspended in some middling point of formation – what remains is a remarkably pure examination of minimalist, experimental synthesis.

Lamin Fofana debuts on Avian. The Sierra Leonean producer arrives on the label with Here Lies Universality, a brace of undulating sound design explorations – in equal parts tense and meditative; thorny and worked smooth. Despite the beatless nature of the compositions, Lamin Fafona’swork is imbued with the spirit of Detroit’s pioneering Techno experimentalists. As such, it is Ambient music that does not exist as a peripheral flavor to color the listeners own experience, but rather as a vehicle for expression that requires attention and observation. The artist uses sound as a vehicle to examine the historical movement – forced or otherwise, of Black people across the globe, and how this movement feeds into inequitable contemporary socio-political and economic power dynamics. Fofana explains that this latest missive, ‘rubs against liberal universalism and reflects on how the pandemic exacerbates existing contradictions and violence significantly and puts them in high relief.’ Opener Here Lies Universality, with its warbling, crystalline lead-synths and pitch-bent tonal interjections offers an introduction to this latest deep-sea rumination. Made at once near with layers of surface noise, but simultaneously fathoms deep thanks to delicate pulses in the low frequencies, it builds gently before subsiding purposefully but without resolution. Split subtly into three movements, follow up Bankrupt Utopia Sez Tell Me begins life with a rousing lead sequence that approaches crescendo before dissipating with washes of heavy modulation. The recording continues with a more conversational tone and that heavy surface noise returns once more to the fore, driving the work and providing a satisfying level of sonic intricacy. Finally, the piece segues into a soft, almost mournful reflection in its closing minutes. On the B1 the artist shares Here Lies Universality Redux, an alternative iteration of the title track. Soft and mediative in its early moments, the recording leaves its synth work behind near the mid-point and morphs into a dense matrix of aquatic sound design and field recording. Measure of Memory/ I Stagger and Remember continues to mine the Drexiyan palette to create a patchwork of shifting, granular sound architecture. Glistening in the high frequencies with timbral plucks and knocks giving the work a shape of sorts, there’s a palpable – almost unnerving,sense of movement throughout. Resounding Water closes the EP, an echo of Here Lies Universality Redux’s latter stages – but also a bookend, returning the listener to the depths after the glowing reverie that preceded. Written & Produced by Lamin Fofana Mastered by Rashad Becker @ Clunk, Berlin Design by atact.uk © Avian 2022

Albert van Abbe & Jochem Paap join forces for General Audio. Recorded at Willem Twee studios in Den Bosch, General Audio explores a unique and esoteric approach to sound creation. Using test and measure equipment from the 1950’s, originally designed for the maintenance of various audio and radio transmitters, van Abbe and Paap create otherworldly walls of sound and dense rhythmic abstractions with an early form of synthesis. Rudimentary signals are combined and processed before being committed to tape via mic’s set up to capture the Willem Twee studio’s unique acoustics. The equipment itself predates the invention of the analog, modular synthesizers developed in the 70’s that are now commonplace in many studios. The record opens with 220Lock-in, a gently undulating drone composition. Effervescent at the top end and fathoms deep at the bottom, it shifts ominously with ring modulated tones that build and then give way to thick washes of white noise. A single synth flourish provides a surprising final moment. The record continues with WZ-1Wobbel Zusatz, a low-sunk percussive piece with an off-kilter rhythm and wet spring reverb doing the bulk of the sonic heavy lifting. Deep in the mix, delicate shifts in pitch and tone deliver a kind of arcane musicality, and as the recording approaches its final moments the piece descends into an exhilarating chaos, with sonic components falling slowly by the wayside. Pegelmesser riffs on a similar reverb characteristic, but this time a driven, arp-like lead propels the work forward. Crisp shifts in colour and distortion arrive unexpectedly, providing a curious musical sensation once more – and harsher moments of feedback break up the recording in its later stages. On Rel 3L 212c LC-pi the pair strip things back, with more present percussive components and subtle distortion lines, before Wandel ups the ante with a corrosive dirge broken up by sporadic submerged synth hits. The penultimate recording SR 250 Boxcar Averager shows off impressive pitch modulation, resulting in a variety of intriguing sensations. Cinematic and remarkably visual, it charts a strange and affecting course, the synth lead underpinned by a repetitive percussive motif and all manner of sends delivering fascinating details. Nim Bin closes the record and once more van Abbe and Paap invite that subtle musicality into the recording. A tight VCO modulation drives the piece while various percussive synth strikes provide a kind of rhythmic component, though they remain untethered to any time signature – a neat conclusion to an intriguing and exploratory record.

Zvrra debuts on Avian. The multifaceted artist and video game developer arrives on the label with a brace of glistening ambient Techno and Noise derivatives. The versatile producer, whose auteur approach to recorded output has yielded a wealth of dense and considered material over the years, marries melodic synthesis with glassy, effervescent sound design and considered polyrhythms to arrive at a cohesive but undeniably idiosyncratic nine track offering. Cinematic opener Bizzaroland combines vocal manipulations with phasing, noisy drones that stand in pleasing contrast to a mournful lead that delicately emerges at the midpoint. Follow up Society, offers a meditative take on stepping ambient Techno before Bizzaroland II treats the listener to a heady, stripped back slice of tripping beatless machine music. Tribal cut Figurine closes the A side and sees the material segue into more ominous territory with pulsing low end, percussive flourishes and harsh bursts of white noise. On the flip, B1 Inside sees the artist roll out another stripped back Techno experiment - this time dry and saturated and propelled by a single lead sequence that shifts about the high mids. Oracle returns to a more esoteric, undefined sonic palette - a cacophonous blend of heavily panning drones in line with the artist’s more experimental work. In the same vein Prohibited is a powerful noise cut that finds its contrast in subdued moments towards the end of its run time. As the record approaches its close, Tired Beetle settles the mood somewhat - an introspective, atmospheric ambient recording tethered with admirable low end, before off kilter invocation Untitled draws the collection to its logical end point.

The award winning Danish producer and live performer, also known for her extensive compositional & soundtrack work for video games, international theatre and dance productions – as well as her own installation projects, debuts on the Avian label with ‘Entangled’. Forged in the unique crucible of SØS Gunver Ryberg’s multidisciplinary practice ‘Entangled’, stalks a hard line at the edge of techno’s stormiest sector. A thrilling meeting of divergent disciplines and sound system metrics with a keen skill for the composition of uncompromising club works, Ryberg’s technique lies in the vital declaration of her own borders in every setting. Comprised of six club focused pieces, the mini LP applies itself to rhythmic intensity with a deft touch. Galloping granulated walls envelope you at every turn as brittle melancholic pads ease you from one moment to the next. ‘The Presence_Eurydike’ is the gentlest form that Ryberg is willing to present, whereas ‘Trispider’ builds a monumental terror out of a raw pulse. It’s at these moments that you sense the careful composition and orchestral drones, and how keenly Ryberg’s rough modulation is meant to alter states. Displaying varying approaches to form and structure across the record, the music riffs on the brooding atmosphere characteristic of the artist’s collected work by breaking up the havoc on ‘Entangled’ with a series of four microcompositions spliced between each of the tracks. Finely textured and rendered in detail they give a glimpse of Ryberg’s capacity for mesmerising sound design – or to put it another way, they give a sense of what’s barely contained by the rhythmic works. This is an expansive and hard hitting rumination on the more caustic, atonal end of the Techno genre – a truly dynamic and immersive listening experience.

Plants Army Revolver debut on Avian. The Italian live act will join Avian for a five track EP showcasing the pair’s breadth as producers. Working within the bounds of a carefully refined sound palette, Marco Ragni & Birgan Valentin look to the more muted, tentatively melodic end of loop Techno, with excursions into washed out Ambient & leftfield Electronica, placing the focus on sound texture & tone.

Alex Tsiridis of Cassegrain debuts on Avian as Rhyw. The extended EP, which represents the second outing for Tsiridis under this moniker, sees the British producer pit a handful of elastic dance-floor workouts alongside a pair of more experimental, ambient reductions.

Andre Gough debuts on Avian as Verge. The Irish producer joins Shifted’s label with an extended EP of exquisitely crafted, deeply emotive Noise trips. Echoes of bonafide Industrial, more experimental post-Punk and New Wave run deep through Gough’s warping eight track debut for Avian, and while listeners might find the principle emotion evoked by the heady, droning synthesis and warping guitar tones a palpable anxiety – at the base of each wide angle ‘scape there’s a glorious, overriding sense of melancholy.

Blawan is Kilner on new double EP for Avian. Jamie Roberts is no stranger to the more experimental tenets of the Techno genre, and much of the British artist’s output of late has hinted at more leftfield leanings. A recent return to Will Bankhead’s Trilogy Tapes imprint saw a brace of meditative, post-Detroit workouts - employing the same heady, hardware aesthetic as much of his work on Ternesc - though at a drastically reduced tempo.

Peder Mannerfelt is known as ‘The Subliminal Kid’ and as part of ‘Roll The Dice’ alongside his own releases on Digitalis, We Can Elude Control and Stockholm LTD. Here we find him collaborating with Simon Haydo (also well established on DEM) for their first Avian appearance with five intense, unnerving and varied tracks…

Soreab – Sensitivity 6.0 Soreab debuts on Avian. Dario Picchi, whose repertoire includes forays into Dancehall, Bass Music and genres less easily classified, alongside a spate of intriguing collaborations, keeps things sparse on Sensitivity 6.0. The six track EP offers up idiosyncratic takes on IDM, Techno and Ambient music with a focus on intricate sound design, showcasing the Baroque Sunburst label head’s admirable versatility as a producer. Brazen opener Squirrel Stampede might surprise listeners expecting a more delicate approach from the EP title. Neatly layered and economic in its execution, it’s a forceful slice of modern Techno. Meditative follow up Trub marries a thick, undulating percussion line with a saccharine melody. Loose synths emerge sporadically from the sonic periphery, breaking up the rolling drum pattern to create a cinematic atmosphere. Closing out the A side is Giale Draws, an intriguing beatless piece with nods to both vintage Musique concrète and more contemporary compositions from the electronic music leftfield.