esxx by lanuk

“Obsessed with sound and music since his early teenage years, Lanuk (Árpád Gulyás) has been working in the fields of noise, experimental, and drone for the past 15 years, involved in various groups and projects over time. He started playing bass in the freepunk band derTANZ in the late 2000s – in the meantime, he further deepened his sonic explorations by setting off his solo project, focusing on impromptu, raw, and thrilling electronics. He has released several tapes and digital albums on Pushya, Baba Vanga, and Immigrant Breast Nest Records. Lanuk’s latest endeavors include founding the Kosssava label and playing the guitar and drum machines in the noise-rock Machinecho duo.

His latest album, esxx opens with e: starting with a looping pulse of an abandoned sparkle, the first track slowly gathers other instances of vibrant, flickering sound objects. Nothing is constant, and everything is in relentless fluctuation on this album, and e is a prime example of that: the collection of dancing voltages quickly collapses into a dark cycle of rumbling hums, completed with a menacing choir of ringing resonances.

Showing the bare-bones and expressive capabilities of analog, modular electronics, 2s2 and krt o(0 portray two very distinct, yet spot-on representations of this genre. 2s2 describes a still life in a humid environment, where chirping entities pop up here and there from every possible nooks and crannies. krt o(0 on the other hand, engages in wild cadences and filtered shrieks – only to stop in the middle, and carry on with a fast, multi-layered, pointillistic sequence.

The album ends with two slow, somber takes: fd resembles the wailing cry of a grieving figure, and pxd shows nothing, but a barren landscape on a cold, winter night. Both tracks depict the aching pain that crushes one’s mind at unfortunate times, yet they deliver a sensitive touch as well. The fragile leading voice of pxd echoes the devoted sacredness of Messiaen’s Oraison, thus showing an elevated, focused, and compassionate aria with shimmering reverberations.”

—Nemerov

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