Premiere: Mads Kinnerup - String

For a label dubbing itself “No Technique“, as this one indeed does, they certainly undersell the musical talents they release: Danish musician Mads Kinnerup demonstrates ample ability — and certainly instrumental technique by the spadeful — on ‘Interpolation‘.

Stepping from smooth ambient into the world of IDM, Mads’ latest for the Skandic label feels like a release from a totally different artist to that heard on prior ventures. Untraceable composition dissolves suavely into compelling electronic voices (eked from the rather notoriously unruly Buchla-200 system, at Elektron Musik Studion in Stockholm), each stuttering almost lyrical tones and sentences before crumbling into vestiges of itself — somehow sounding confident in a mood of absolute uncertainty. A telling tidbit of information: Caterina Barbieri helped with the melody on ‘Stream‘.

Void of direct percussion, rhythm is instead manipulated by near-comparisons, parallel in sonic footprint, yet an orbital version not a direct imitation. The opening of our premiere ‘String‘ shows this perhaps the strongest: Autechre-ish, kinned but a separate subspecies from Aphex, Kinnerup’s deft hand (and, again, blatant technique) sees the flash-sounds drop from high-frequency twitches into deep, wallowing ambience in a beat of the heart, closing with sweeps a million miles from the nimble and kinetic utterances of the opening section. Compelling and brilliant — two words easily applied to the whole album.

Below, you can watch a live performance of the track courtesy of the artist.