Altered Zones

Orphx's music is, in a nutshell, monomaniacally focused on the idea that the right combination of pulsing rhythms, noise sweeps, and distortion-- namely, the kind that grows from a low growl into a full roar-- is the surest route to some sort of transcendent mechanical zen experience. And while they have recently been receiving a significant amount of attention in the world of "techno," the music basically hasn't changed a whit from back when people were calling it "rhythmic noise," and they were releasing records on labels like Ant-Zen and Hands. "Vapour" is as concise a summary of the Orphx aesthetic as I've ever heard. The band once released an (amazing) EP called Nullity. As the slow pulse on this one grows into a full-throated machine-howl, the idea of a state of complete, well, "nullity" is pretty much all I can think of. --Arturo Darvishire, Altered Zones

MP3: Vapour: "Orphx"

Traces EP is available from Adam X's (Traversable Wormhole) long-running Sonic Groove imprint