Alta Ripa

4年ぶりの新作となるBen Lukas Boysenによるフルアルバム。チェリストのアンネ・ミュラー、フリューゲルホルン奏者のシュテフェン・ジマー、ドラマーのアヒム・フェルバーなど他のミュージシャンと緊密に作り上げた。今作には彼が親から受けたクラシック音楽の「学校教育」から、ドラムンベース、エイフェックス・ツイン、オーテカなどを通じた音の旅まで今作の背後にあるアイデアの中心となっている。

German composer, producer, and sound designer Ben Lukas Boysen began releasing electronic music as Hecq during the early 2000s, creating brittle, icy, and sometimes volatile IDM/glitch that followed in the footsteps of acts like Autechre, Arovane, and Funkstorung. His work as Hecq flirted with breakcore and industrial, then ventured into experimental hip-hop and dubstep, while he began composing soundtracks and other releases under his own name, landing closer to modern classical, ambient, and post-rock. Though these releases have sometimes featured drums or propulsive, usually downtempo rhythms, he hasnt focused on beat-driven work as much since his output as Hecq slowed down. Alta Ripa, his 2024 album as Boysen, alludes to Altrip, a small town in which he grew up, and it takes inspiration from the electronic music he embraced as a teenager, including Aphex Twin, Hardfloor, and Alec Empire. Created using analog modular synthesizers, Alta Ripa is an album of wintry, steadily flowing techno and ambient pieces that maintain the melancholy and suspense of Boysens other work, fitting comfortably next to releases by Kiasmos and Rival Consoles in the Erased Tapes discography. "Ours," which would surely make an appropriate soundtrack for an opening credits scene, slowly materializes, developing a midtempo, arpeggio-driven beat that gradually gains an aggressive, industrial-like edge. "Mass" is more uptempo, but still nuanced and detailed, rather than immediate and anthemic. Other tracks are sleek and steady but also a bit muscular, with "Fama" being the most intricate, constantly building up anticipation until it reaches its weightless end. Of the beatless pieces, "Vineta" is a stirring reflection with starry synth patterns and haunting operatic vocals, and "Mere" is a slightly noisy elegiac drift. Alta Ripa is a mature, finely crafted effort that looks back to the formative era of experimental techno without being a nostalgia trip. ~ Paul Simpson