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Amnesia Scanner, the Berlin-based duo of Finnish djs Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala,
debuted with the mixtape AS Live (2014)
and the EPs Angels Rig Hook (2015), containing a 14-minute ecologically-themed radio play, i.e. narration and collage,
and
Cyber Monday (2015), followed by the singles
AS Chingy (chopped-up vocals over booming disjointed beats), AS Crust (a childish rigmarole over glitchy liquid pulses) and AS Truth in 2016.
The six-song EP AS (2016) contains both AS Chingy and AS Crust.
The singer was a machine called Oracle.
After more singles (AS MEE in 2017; AS Chaos, AS A.W.O.L., and AS Too Wrong in 2018), their first
album Another Life (2018) established them at the vanguard of the movement to deconstruct and derail dance-music, continuing the tradition of
Mika Vainio and
Arca's Xen
with the harsh and violent punk-industrial explosions of
AS Symmetribal, AS Unlinear and AS Faceless,
emanating evil vibrations from their handicapped beats and subhuman vocals.
The album also has its cartoonish side: the
industrial dubstep of AS A.W.O.L. (with grotesquely distorted vocals),
the sulfuric disco of AS Another Life, the
cartoonish deranged hip-hop merry-go-round AS Too Wrong.
Only AS Securitaz betrays some human emotion.
The audiovisual project Lexachast (2019) with Bill Kouligas (owner of the label that put out their albums) and and visual artist Harm van den Dorpel, originally performed in 2015 in London but later expanded,
Its nine movements carry out a less savage attack on the dancefloor. They
perform a less deadly kind of surgery.
This is mostly abstract soundpainting and musique concrete.
Most of the pieces are ghostly and skeletal (especially Lexachast 2).
The notable exception is the chant of Lexachast 4 that relies on
minimalist repetition and orchestral bombast.
The ecological concept album Tearless (2020) moved away from their
dance roots towards more conventional ballads.
Two vocalists (Peruvian singer Lalita and Brazilian producer Lyzza) join
Oracle to sing them.
If AS Tearless and AS Aca can be said to create a new form
of abrasive post-pop, with melodies that are unceremoniously massacred by
dissonance,
AS Too Late retains the melody (and the human voice) at the center
and AS U Will Be Fine even intones a childish singalong.
The hyper-psychedelic As Flat,
the robotic and horror trap music of AS Trouble, and the
industrial-metal overtones of AS Labyrinth
expand their horizons dramatically.
(Copyright © 2020 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use )
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(Translated by/Tradotto da Stefano Bedetti)
Amnesia Scanner, un duo di base a Berlino e formato dai dj finlandesi Ville
Haimala e Matti Kalliala, ha debuttato con il mixtapeAS Live (2014) e con gli EP AngelsRig
Hook (2015) contenente uno spettacolo radiofonico a tema ecologico, cioè
fatto di narrazione e collages sonori, e Cyber
Monday (2015), seguito dai singoli AS
Chingy (voci tritate su battiti sconnessi in continua espansione), AsCrust (una tiritera infantile su disfunzionali
pulsazioni liquide) e AsTruth nel
2016. L’EP di sei canzoni AS (2016)
contiene sia AsChingy e AsCrust. Il cantante era una macchina
chiamata “Oracle”.
Dopo diversi altri singoli (AS MEE
nel 2017; AS Chaos, AS A.W.O.L. e AS Too Wrong nel 2018), il loro primo album Another Life (2018) li ha confermati all’avanguardia del movimento
che decostruisce e fa deragliare la musica da ballo, continuando la tradizione
di Mika Vainio e di Xen
di Arca, con le aspre e violente esplosioni industrial-punk di AS Symmetrical, AsUnlinear e AsFaceless,
emananti vibrazioni maligne grazie a loro beats handicappati e vocalismi
subumani. L’album ha anche un lato “cartoonesco”: il dubstep industriale di AS AWOL (con voci grottescamente
distorte), i sulfurei ritmi disco di AS
Another Life, lo stravolto girotondo hip-hop da cartone animato di AS Too Wrong. Soltanto AS Securitaz tradisce qualche emozione
di tipo umano.
Il progetto audio-visivo Lexchast
(2019) insieme a Bill Kouligas (proprietario dell’etichetta che ha pubblicato i
loro album) e l’artista visuale Harm van denDorpel, originariamente presentato
a Londra nel 2015 ed ampliato successivamente, consiste in nove movimenti che
esibiscono un attacco un po’ meno feroce alle piste da ballo. Eseguono insomma un
tipo di intervento chirurgico meno letale. Perlopiù questo assomiglia a suoni
pittorici e alla musica concreta. Molti dei brani suonano spettrali e
scheletrici (in ispecie Lexachast 2).
Un eccezione notevole si ha nel canto di Lexachast
4 che si affida a ripetizioni minimaliste e magniloquenze orchestrali.
Il concept album a tema ecologico Tearless
(2020) si è spostato dalle loro originarie radici dance verso un genere di
ballete più convenzionali. Due vocalist (la cantante Peruviana Lalita e il
produttore Brasiliano Lyzza) si divertono a cantare con Oracle. Se si può dire
che AS Tearless e AS Aca diano origine a una nuova forma
di post-pop abrasivo, con melodie che vengono massacrate dalla dissonanza senza
tante cerimonie, AS Too Late serba la
melodia (e la voce umana) al suo centro
e AS U Will Be Fine intona
addirittura un coretto fanciullesco. La iper-psichedelica AsFlat, la trap robotica e orrifica di AS Trouble e i sovratoni industriali e metal di AsLabyrinth allargano drammaticamente i
loro orizzonti.
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