Live 2002 – Mika Vainio + Ryoji Ikeda + Alva Noto

Who said Gotham, the quintessential typographic spirit of New York City, could not be German? For the first new release of his recently re-booted label, sound artist Carsten Nicolai, alias Alva Noto, dropped Live 2002, a recording of a long forgotten concert in Gateshead near Newcastle. Together with experimental peers/pioneers Ryoji Ikeda and the late Mika Vainio, the power of raw sound was sculpted into music beyond comprahension.

Echoing the precise interplay of mucial constants found in the trio’s signature clicks and cuts, the album cover similiarly approaches graphic design with a critical relation to platonic essentials. A Swiss style dragged through the cataloging office and back, lines, tables and all caps text intersect in harmonic gray, never for a second losing complete control.