Crónica’s Product series splits an album between the artists Ok.Suitcase and Cáncer (Chile). Ok.Suitcase explores its technical composition skills with the immanently recognizable palette of granular synthesis. Here, looped, wavering harmonics languidly float through textural density. Whether conducted with vocal samples or electronic gestures, the repetitions are short and intensive, yielding a mounting atmosphere of tension. There remains just enough room for contemplation and thus mental breathing space. By the last track, the friction has shifted somewhat from self-destructive impulses to a relaxation of the senses. Cáncer explores an entirely different aspect of the loop: its ability to differentiate. Opening with synthesizer refrains reminiscent of Boards of Canada, the eternal return colors its drawn-out washes in harmonic hues, stopping just short of forming a “song”. From then on, Cáncer descends into permutations of minute rhythmic glitches and filtered atmosphere, at its best when articulating cavernous, almost underwater spaces. The negotiation between quanta and macroscopia is what signals this moment – found throughout these works – as significant within the realm of deep listening.
Tobias C. Van Veen