Rhemunvhurse Optikonn by Oberman Knocks

Oberman Knocks
Rhemunvhurse Optikonn EP
Detund LTD 88

Following his 2022 album Conder-Rhyptik, Oberman Knocks began work on Trojans, a new contemporary dance piece with Company Philip Connaughton, in association with Once Off Productions, which premiered in June 2023 at Cork Midsummer Festival, Ireland.

Working on the project not only took Knocks out of his usual workspace physically, but also mentally — working collaboratively in realtime with a group of people face-to-face.

During the process of making Trojans, a dialogue and exchange of ideas developed between the choreographer, dancers and Knocks that, along with the piece’s narrative, prompted a different way of producing sound, one that resonated more with the movement and physicality of the performers, as opposed to constructing sound ‘objects’ within space.

Performed by seven international artists, Trojans was staged in an old, spacious warehouse. The square ‘stage’ demarcated by a single row of seating on each side, further framed by four suspended video screens, all enveloped by lighting and sound emanating from the dark empty space surrounding its perimeter.

On returning to London, Knocks was full of enthusiasm for creating sounds for a similar space, be it real or imagined, and for participants whose moves would be much less choreographed and intricately timed, in favour of being more responsive and spontaneous — both individually and as a collective — to tracks that were most definitely made to be played out.

Rhemunvhurse Optikonn is the result of those prompts, a six-track EP that has a different energy than Knocks’ previous works. The beats are more structured, the energy levels are ramped up and the sounds themselves reference various eras of clubbing, spanning a wide gamut of spaces. And yet, while more closely locked to the grid, they are still laced with his signature off-kilter sounds and vocal murmurings.

Written and produced by Nigel Truswell
obermanknocks@btconnect.com
www.obermanknocks.com
Image: Nigel Truswell, Pony Ltd.
Publishing EPM Music, 2023

Tracklist

1.	Comtexkreer	5:27

2.	Nerf Sans Meer	5:20

3.	Hicklam Phormer Gains	5:26

4.	Skabeleplex Rhea	4:08

5.	Khronulocque	3:05

6.	Monnskort's Aggrevated Manor	6:19

Credits

released December 6, 2023

License