{"title":"Lippard Arkbro Lindwall","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"how-do-i-know-if-my-cat-likes-me","title":"How do I know if my cat likes me?","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow do I know if my cat likes me?\u003c\/strong\u003e is the first offering from organists \u003cstrong\u003eEllen Arkbro\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eHampus Lindwall\u003c\/strong\u003e with visual artist \u003cstrong\u003eHanne Lippard\u003c\/strong\u003e, an existential meditation on the empty expanses of our automated everyday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFirst developed during \u003cstrong\u003eArkbro\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eLippard\u003c\/strong\u003e’s 2023 residency at La Becque in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland, the album satirizes, in prim deadpan, the stultifying aesthetics of corporate life, from hold music to online banking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHow do I know if my cat likes me?\u003c\/em\u003e extends the lineage of \u003cem\u003eRoberts Ashley\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBarry\u003c\/em\u003e’s droll concept poetry, hammering at the sounds of language until they dislodge all signifieds through pleasurably numbing repetition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eListening to the record is like doing a Captcha over and over until all the characters fuzz to hieroglyphs, or finding yourself mired in a tautological customer-service argument—except that, after you dead-end at nonsense, you stumble into an unexpectedly transcendent beauty, where language flips from pure function to pure aesthetic, shimmering with possibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEven subtle ruptures in lyrical or musical patterns can trigger a fundamental shift in the world of the song. Throughout the record, strict formalism and minimalism beget narrative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThe long goodbye\u003c\/em\u003e” imagines an excruciating dialogue between acquaintances who can’t politely disengage: “It’s my pleasure!” deadpans \u003cstrong\u003eLippard\u003c\/strong\u003e, who replies to herself, “Pleasure is all mine! \/ See you soon! \/ See you next time! \/ See you then!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThough the lines recycle the same few parting words, a mysterious causality accumulates in the minute variations, creating a narrative arc less for the characters of the song than for the listener, who might confront despair, nihilistic humor, or profound gratitude at the capacity of art to encompass any of this—not necessarily in that order.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eElsewhere, as “\u003cem\u003eModern Spanking\u003c\/em\u003e” free-associates its way from the phrase “online banking” toward “breathing down your neck banking” and “sexy but bankrupt banking,” a whole world of perfunctory pleasures comes into focus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile minimalist movements in music and visual art foster a certain situatedness of the view, “\u003cem\u003eModern Spanking\u003c\/em\u003e” evokes the slick, frictionless minimalism of an upscale mall: a crowd of desultory passersby drifting between sex and money, fantasy and reality, scattered attention and intense distraction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a world like this, the distinction between banking and spanking becomes negligible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blank Forms Editions","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":51541476671819,"sku":"R7563-5714","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51541476704587,"sku":"R7563-1869","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/981dd33e-ade8-365e-5f3d-3251087a7985_900222aa-5fcf-4043-a344-76307804bedd.jpg?v=1752282865"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/lippard-arkbro-lindwall.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}