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LP
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ALT 058LP
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What happens when you arrive to a party and everyone is leaving as you are walking in? If a bass drum booms in the woods but no one is around to hear it, does it even boom at all? Can you build a mansion with playing cards? Nick Klein returns to Alter with the cryptically biographical No Shortage of Rope, his third release for the label and significantly, potentially his first full-length album. Consisting of seven tracks, No Shortage of Rope is a consolidated collection of recordings Klein made after leaving his long-term base of NYC to become a full-time resident of Den Haag, Netherlands. Using some newfound free time post-move, Klein wanted to approach his working process in the studio a little differently to create something long form. Describing his time in the studio, Klein says it was "the most hermetic studio endeavor I have ever undertaken." It certainly seems that Klein harnessed this period of productivity to make the most of what his music could offer as No Shortage of Rope is the man in his most pointedly pure form. As an artist Klein has followed his own path around the fringes of the contemporary American underground without much worry of where he may end up as a result. This has led the majority of his work to be best contextualized by the rough beat-music associated with artists like Beau Wanzer, Shane English, or Container and the celebratory unpretentious world of noise. Opening track "Sitting In Glass" sets an irreverent foundation with gratuitous chainsaw-like synth noise that sucks the air immediately out of the room. The subsequent tracks are more or less Klein back at the office in beat-based terrain, but with some noticeable differences. The kicks are harder and percussive elements have been chosen and rendered with sharp detail, taking up more space and disguising how minimal these pieces are despite their bombastic delivery. The biggest surprise comes in the final track "French-Property.com," a book-ending piece of percussion-less glacial electronics and maybe the most expansive thing Klein has made to date. Regardless of Klein's intentions regarding the club, it couldn't have been too far from his mind purely for the reason that No Shortage of Rope just bangs like fuck for the most part. This is hard rhythmic electronic music built for basements and the record-boxes of adventurous DJs, just very much made on his own terms. Color LP.
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12"
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ALT 039EP
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Nick Klein's Lowered Flaming Coffin was recorded in Brooklyn, NY, on an economic set-up: a Spartan Modular synth and Korg MS-20. Starting on an almost uplifting note with the glistening melodic cycles of "Burning Mattresses", the asphyxia soon takes over. "Peña Adobe" has the panicked terror of an archaic ringtone hitting the volume of an air raid siren, "Smelling The Sheets" skulks rather than bangs, its momentum stifled and edgy. At nearly 14 minutes, the disfigured rave stabs and blunted military tattoo-snare pf "The God In Vodka" furiously pace into a clammy, toxic rush.
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12"
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ALT 027EP
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Four disparate, industrial-tinged tracks that demonstrate a rough-hewn synthesis of noise and techno. From the hypnotic "Caberet Voltaire gone Reggaeton" patter of "Chats With Lucy" to the crawling computer acid of "Christian Rock Concert", Nick Klein teases out melodies from beneath layers of muddied beats on The Lonesome Dealer, a record that is as pacifying as it is jarring. "Do You Want To Crash?" is perhaps the clearest realization of this idea; its crescendoing din of noise giving way to a laser-cut synth line, while "Pain Management Resource" is built around a clatter of hi-hats and wobbly polyrhythms.
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12"
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PRECEPT 004EP
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Nick Klein delivers a roaring and deafening debut EP for Unknown Precept: the live recording of Failed Devotee from his lair in Brooklyn. Five whirring pieces of slowed and throwed techno and heavy analog rhythms. Its powerful approach, marked by sooted synthesizers, watered down melodies, and grinding grooves, shows Klein at his finest, whether it brings soiled theatrics or rusty progressions.
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