Iride by Kuoyah

IRIDE is the debut album of Italian musician Marco Donnarumma aka Kuoyah, whose artist debut also came through Frijsfo back in 2009. Iride is a long player weighing in at just under one hour and like his previous work it makes for intriguing, challenging yet rewarding listening. Iride in Italian translates to 'Iris', by the way...

These tracks were written and put together in spurts of productivity between 2012 and 2014. The first fruits dropped in 2013 via the strange yet well-received digital tracks 'Freight / Rejo' – a different version of the latter appears on Iride's opening stages. Boomkat called it "muscular dark garage moves such as the high-velocity 'Freight' and the slicing chops of 'Rejo', reminding of older Brackles or Blunted Robot styles..." whilst KMag included it in their top 10 Bass Music releases and said "‘Freight’s fractured 2-step beats, bloated bassline and steely stare make for a shadowy dance floor weapon that steals the show here. On the flip ‘Rejo’s slightly lighter disposition is manifested in bouncy tribal percussion, incomprehensible vocal cuts and warping chords".

Those drastic vocal edits became a mainstay in Kuoyah's toolbox, contributing significantly to the wild, natural yet alien feeling to the productions on Iride. Bass, warmth, and those ever-enticing sub-low frequencies continue to dominate his music heavily, juxtaposed by the haunting and haunted sounds present throughout the album. The result is an unstable contrast: emptiness, fierce, harsh loneliness versus low end warmth and uplifting undertones. Perhaps partly the influence from living in London...

We are very proud to be including this remix from Warp Records stalwarts Plaid. This came about from mutual respect for each others' work rather than any record label request, and it fittingly closes Iride.

Haunting riddim and sounds from a frozen future.

#leftfield #garage #2step #sounddesign.

2009-2015
Edinburgh/London.