8 Tracks: Of Passage With Rioux

I was lucky to see this multi-generational band from the Congo perform in Detroit when I was fourteen. The fiery repetition is trance-inducing and stretches the possibilities of a simple instrument––the kalimba––to wild extremes. I was very excited when they released their new studio album this year.

When the independent record shop in my childhood hometown closed, I would go to a place in Detroit that favored minimal techno and was always showcasing the German label Kompakt. It would become one of my favorites, particularly for its Pop Ambient series. This selection, coming from the 2006 edition that I bought with lunch money I had saved, is a mesmerizing sound collage and an inspiration to work with abstracted and ambiguous sound forms.

Durational pieces of music like this can be powerful in that they coax us into patience and a state of deeper listening than short-form productions. A 40+ minute piece/1-track album, Lisbon was another lunch money CD purchase on a whim for which I’m grateful.

The memory of being floored by this on first listen in college is crystalline. The tone clusters of disparate, chattering voices speaks to the subconscious in the way it strings together experiential information and the gliding sawtooth bass synth lifts it above the surface. The inclusion of electronics alongside traditional elements––voice, strings, piano, bells––inspired me to explore this balance in my work.

This frenetic piece illuminates the underlying beauty in chaos and dissonance. The ecstatic barrage demands a sort of surrender from the listener, inducing a powerful experience.

I discovered the French producer Gilb’r through the Acid Arab series, whose 3rd volume features this production. It has a slowly unfolding, confident repose laid out by its 100bpm pulse and detailed with harmonized spoken word, droning upper-register synth suspensions, and a memorable, layered sax motif. This track triggers a feeling of strength and confidence in me while still invoking a sense of wonder.

When my friend Landon Speers told me he had been working on ambient music I was intrigued, having only previously heard dance-oriented work from him. Aluphor is a spellbinding album that was an absolute honor to release on my label Human Pitch last year. The opening track casts an enveloping, monolithic tone and gives me goosebumps every time.

I love this track for its glowing warm/cold dynamic. For me it calls to mind a coming out of hibernation––moving through the death of winter and towards a rebirth. Something about Juliana’s voice always brings about beaming clarity––always a refreshing listen.