Wildly exhilarating solo drum kit performance from Crystabel Efemena Riley. Recorded on the first night of Incapacitants residency at OTO in September, Riley presents an absolutely no-holds-barred set that delves deep into the textural and timbral qualities of the instrument.

Though recorded on a single drum kit, multiple mic placements take the sound and reshape it in unexpected ways. This multi-strand approach to amplification becomes an integral part of the kit, with Riley using pedals to control the volume and balance of the various channels. Distorted toms roll and shudder, snare hits peak with such an intensity that at times it sounds as if the drum could be filled with gravel, and densely overlapping rhythms whirl and contort with an unflagging propulsive momentum. Through it all, deep, resonant bass synths surge and swell; at times the percussive battery subsides to be leave an enveloping wash of bass tones in isolation, and you can almost imagine that you are nestled deep inside the drum kit itself, looking (and listening) out.

This is a fully committed performance that, as a listener you cannot help but to be fully within - as disorientating as it is all-encompassing. No matter, let yourself be swept away in its eddies and flows and you will find yourself in a profoundly different place than where you started.

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Recorded by Billy Steiger
Mixed and mastered by Oli Barrett

Available as 320k MP3 or 24bit FLAC

Tracklisting:

1. 6.9.24 - 24.30