Alva Noto explores the univrs

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  • Carsten Nicolai has another highly conceptual LP in the works.
  • Alva Noto explores the univrs image
  • Carsten Nicolai, AKA Alva Noto, has a new album due out in October called univrs. univrs is classic Alva Noto: glitchy, meticulously produced, and driven by very cerebral ideas. As you might guess from the titles and cover art, it follows the same concept as his 2008 album unitxt. The label explains it thusly: "Whereas the focus of unitxt was on the processing of rhythmic patterns ('unit' = unit of measurement, element) and information ('txt' = data, language), with univrs the focus is on the conceptual differentiation of a universal language ('universum/universal' = unity, entirety)." Just like unitxt, the album features a vocal appearance from Anne-James Chaton, who reads through a "random narrative" of three-letter acronyms on the track "uni acronym." The album has a visual element as well, based on the "real-time manipulation of software-generated test images by audio signals," which Nicolai achieved by means of a custom built "unitxt box." This routine features in Alva Noto's live performances of the album, and can be seen on a DVD that comes with a special edition version of univrs, which will be available through Raster-Noton's website. Tracklist 01. uni c 02. uni fac 03. uni asymmetric tone 04. uni rec 05. uni dia 06. uni iso 07. uni mode 08. uni acronym feat. Anne-James Chaton 09. uni asymmetric noises 10. uni deform 11. uni asymmetric III-IIII 12. uni syc 13. uni asymmetric sweep 14. uni pro Raster-Noton will release univrs on October 17th, 2011.
RA