Marking its 10 Year Anniversary, NYC-based record label Black Knoll reissues ‘A Fragile Geography‘, the landmark ambient album from American producer Rafael Anton Irisarri – a spectral cartography of loss and reconstruction forged in the aftermath of devastation.
Originally released through Lawrence English’s record label Room40, the album was conceived amidst the ruins of Irisarri’s Seattle studio, $50k of gear stolen whilst relocating to New York from Seattle. What emerged instead was a suite of thoughtful reflections born in the stillness of the Hudson Valley, an album recollecting the ineffable memory of ultra-wired machines. Devoid of its original hardware, Irisarri carved out what would become a pivotal moment in his career.
For the occasion, the release receives a full sonic treatment at Schwebung Studio from mastering engineer Stephan Mathieu. Complementing the restoration is a long-awaited reinterpretation from ambient luminary William Basinski alongside Gary Thomas Wright.
Among its six windswept movements, ‘Reprisal‘ is our pick. Feeling like a monochrome drift of processed resonance, the piece unfolds like a ghostly transmission filtered through decaying tape. Celestial resonances blur into low-end rumbles, choirs flicker beneath distant bells, drifting away memories of a past life. This is ambient music at its most human, like a slow dissolve into psychology’s dimmest corners, where geography is no longer a place, but a feeling.
‘A Fragile Geography (10 Years Anniversary Reissue)’ is scheduled for release 19th September via Black Knoll Editions. Order a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Record Store and other formats from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. Displacement
2. Reprisal
3. Empire Systems
4. Hiatus
5. Persistence
6. Secretly Wishing for Rain