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LP
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FUR 114LP
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An innate facet of the human condition is the very personal way we choose to process our own fatality. Faced with dealing with the feelings of anxiety, death, and fear after nearly drowning whilst diving in the South Atlantic in his youth, Brazilian composer Ricardo Donoso chose to channel them into his creative process. The result was Scuba Death, a project that was fully realized on Donoso's widely acclaimed 2014 Further debut, Nitrogen Narcosis (FUR 077LP). After spending time devoted to establishing his Kathexis label as well as delivering a trilogy of albums under his given name for the Denovali label, Donoso returns to Further with a second Scuba Death offering, The Worm At The Core. The 36 minutes of The Worm At The Core expand on the creeping conceptual thrust of that Scuba Death debut, the title referencing the work of late 19th Century American philosopher William James. In his 1902 book, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, James described the knowledge we all must die as "the worm at the core" of the human condition, further adding that this universally-shared fear informs all our urges, be it creative or destructive. Donoso continues to funnel this innate fear for positive, creative means on The Worm At The Core, which presents an important element of continuity from his previous journey to the depths as Scuba Death. The melodic strains that signaled the end of Nitrogen Narcosis on ten minute closer "Rapture Of The Deep" resurface to shape the opening movements of The Worm At The Core on "Paradox Of Finitude". There are, however, subtle shifts present here, Donoso opting to look to land rather than water for sonic inspiration with the six tracks based around location recordings of thunderstorms. These field recordings still play an integral role in the Scuba Death panorama along with Donoso's deft craft of analog equipment and sampling, whilst Rafa Selway's expert cello play is heavily incorporated throughout The Worm At The Core, further adding to the album's inherent organic qualities. The results are another evocative slow, ebbing pulse of an album encompassing the low BPM dub techno swell of "Cracks In The Shield" and "A Panic Rumbling Beneath" and richly textured soundscapes rife with haunting emotion such as "Mortality Salience." Reverse board jacket with insert design by Daniel Castrejon. 180 gram vinyl.
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LP
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FUR 077LP
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Scuba Death is Ricardo Donoso's alter ego. With more of a focus on analog sound, percussion, sampling, and location recordings, there is an organic undercurrent on Scuba Death recordings that isn't as prevalent in his solo work. This music is rich in atmosphere while still tethered to the deeper ideas that Donoso often explores in his work. Treatises on fear and death-anxiety, the underlining thematic framework for the project, run rampant throughout these claustrophobic electronic passages, and teeter on the edge of being oppressive. Nitrogen Narcosis marks the first full-length and strongest statement in the Scuba Death repertoire after the privately issued, ruthless Demon Seed 12" back in 2011. The album alternates between surprising lethargic dance inflections all nestled between 75 & 100 bpm, the normal resting heart rate for adults, and the more conceptual, numbness-inducing pieces like "5070 Meters" and "Nociception." Sequencing plays an integral role on Nitrogen Narcosis as the listener is suddenly thrust into the darkest reaches of the ocean after dark alley grooves are sucked into an aquatic abyss. For a project named after Donoso's near-drowning experience in the South Atlantic when he was younger, there's an impressive amount of reflection and vulnerability present -- the field recordings that permeate throughout the album were captured at the same location the undertow caught hold of him that bright summer day 20 years prior. An inner battle between paranoia and euphoria is played out in well-conceived, precision sonics on Nitrogen Narcosis as Donoso reminds us to look back, break through the surface and go deeper. Ricardo Donoso's solo work speaks for itself, but with this new chapter comes new questions and considerations. Scuba Death is enigmatic to a fault and all the better for it. Recorded at Vesica Pisces, September-November 2012.
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