returning with renewed force after henning baer’s unbreakable debut lp, manhigh’s sixth release comes from a name already well-known in techno circles. sciahri is the italian producer whose luminous 2014 debut on the celebrated ilian tape’s itx experimental series immediately announced his presence, followed by another on the label and two eps for the highly-rated black opal offshoot of opal tapes by 2016. he was simultaneously occupied with his ambient-leaning unknot duo with emanuele porcinai, better known as wsr on samuel kerridge’s contort label. 2017 saw the launch of his sublunar imprint and a tripartite release from him featuring a more streamlined sound than the craggy broken-beat style familiar from ilian tape. sciahri’s manhigh ep opens with ‘demur’, showcasing his most dour, industrial sounds, scraping metallic highs against the unrelenting impacts of reverberating kicks and subbass drone. ‘forbidden’ holds its forces more in reserve, the cycling, mechanical soundscape maintaining a spacious, ambient aspect, worked against a broken rhythm more implied than explicitly stated. returning to full intensity for ‘reliance’, he tightly coils the core elements around deftly-deployed percussion and a militaristic, pounding rhythm in the bass and kicks. henning baer’s reinterpretation of ‘demur’ saves little from the original apart from its overriding tension, instead adding a layer of nearly-tonal pads and an unremitting acidic bass throb pushing forwards inexorably.

• second chapter of the project run by sciahri (ilian tape) and emanuele porcinai (on contort as wsr)
• ltd copies only

unknot is the duo consisting of producer/dj sciahri and composer/audiohead emanuele porcinai. unknot01 is the first release on the duos self-titled label. the music is derived from recordings of jam sessions taken on a semi-modular set-up and later contextualized, through arrangement, within a dancefloor-oriented framework.
the core of unknots sound is strictly bound both to sciahris solid techno background and to the mutable character of emanuele’s electroacoustic productions. the dialogue between such distant practices and approaches, brought to an extremely restrained setup, is what defines unknots musical identity.
unknot01 is a stark, angular swarm of sounds, shaped within very structured yet experimental arrangements. each track delivers propulsive, cryptic and poignant melodies disguised in the harsh and outright aggressive rhythmical patterns.

third chapter of the project run by sciahri (opal tapes / ilian tape) and emanuele porcinai (on contort as wsr). unknot03 features explorations of dense and warped rhythmical textures (‘strain’, ‘vapor’), combined with fast-paced and propulsive pieces (‘lockt’, ‘corrosion’). the sound palette remains consistent with the previous releases, where raw synthetic sequences are deployed to shape grooves and melodic lines and to ultimately create alienating artificial soundscapes. ltd copies only

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