demegy
unflavoured and yet clearly with a barker touch. wonderful tracks for quietly in the background or torn up on the floor.
Favorite track: Birmingham Screwdriver.
Glides
A constant source of audio amazement. One of the true innovators going currently, along with the likes of Skee Mask. A less difficult Autechre for the current generation.
Sam Barker returns with his first solo EP since 2020’s BARKER002, this time on Oslo’s Smalltown Supersound. While Barker’s previous releases (2018’s Debiasing EP, 2019’s Utility LP) explored the possibilities of kickless dancefloor tracks, Unfixed sees him inverting the musical equation and exploring both the variability and sonic possibilities of a kick-drum – though the final result is not a concept EP.
The four tracks emerged from a session that started out as both a technical study in bass drum design and cognition, specifically problem of “functional fixedness”, which describes a mental block that restricts the use of an object to its traditional application. Exploring the so-called “generic parts technique”, whereby an object is broken down into its component parts to help reveal novel solutions, the typical bass drum elements of waveform, transient, and noise were re-combined through modular synthesis to become fluid, expressive and dynamic.
However, what began as a rule-based experiment was overtaken by a more organic music making process without specific conceptual constraints, which allowed the music to live and breathe. Tracks were started and then left unfinished, only to be approached again and again over lengthy intervals. Stylistically the result a mix of raw, stuttering, psychedelic growl, kosmische techno, and infinite iterations and of a single groove. In this regard, Unfixed sees Barker not only deeply invested in musical experimentation but also exploring his own biases in both composition and sound design. The result is, once again, a sound and musical framework all of his own.
credits
released August 25, 2023
Written and produced by Sam Barker
Mastered by Stefan Betke at Scape Mastering, Berlin
Cover art by Kim Hiorthøy
On his latest LP, Buffalo, NY artist Jeff Stadelman creates rippling electronic compositions that crackle and weave. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 27, 2021
A collection of tasty tracks by a highly competent producer equally at home with – and always adding his own twist to – classic IDM, Drexciya-style electro and dubby atmospherics. Lovely stuff. Ingmar Wennerberg