Tempered Inmid // Kangding Ray

Label: Stroboscopic Artefacts

Format: 12”/Digital
Release Date: 15/04/13

Over the last year or so Raster Noton signee David Letellier aka Kangding Ray been building his relationship with Stroboscopic Artefacts brick by brick, providing two tracks for the label’s Stellate series, a digital EP for the Monad series, and an additional track for a collaborative 12” with Pfirter. The latest of these, Tempered Inmid, cements Letellier as a Stroboscopic regular, his brand of highly experimental mechanistic Techno fitting in neatly with the labels refined aesthetics.

A combination of icy, machine like rhythms and emotive, futurist synth work is at play through Tempered Inmid. Letellier’s glacial melodies provide a stark contrast to the abrasive glitching rhythms through the EP. Title track ‘Tempered Inmid’ is a good testimony to this, mixing gristly, throbbing arpeggios with relentless muscular kicks  and extraneous ticks and taps.

There is an apparent, near obsessive level of attention to detail applied to the release, which is perhaps a hallmark of Letellier’s work with Raster Noton. The percussion through ‘Nuis Octury’ in particular is reminiscent of that of Raster Noton co-founder Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto), through its incorporation of static atmospheres and precisely programmed rhythms, albiet in a slightly more danceable incarnation.

Whilst ‘Nuis Octury’ is by far the most kinetic offering on the EP, Tempered Inmid feels for the most part, decidedly introspective. Rhythmic elements take a back seat through ‘Dimen Andesso’, instead being led by the beautiful, subdued analogue melodies Letellier exhibited on his contributions to the excellent Stellate 3. Closer ‘Ezerb Altren’ has a similarly woeful undercurrent created by Letellier’s droning chord progressions. The track has a hauntingly slow pace to it, and a sense of being submerged.

With Stroboscopic’s Stellate series concluded with the fourth edition, its nice to see the labels pursuit of experimental music continuing, and equally satisfying to see Kangding Ray’s output fitting in so neatly.

• Published
• Apr 14, 2013

• Credits
• Words by Theo Darton-Moore