Membrane Pop

Limited numbered first edition on colored vinyl. Deluxe LP packaging includes high-quality mp3 download of album and two bonus tracks. The self-described opto-musical agglomerate was born in 2008 after a chance encounter between British musician Dan Hayhurst and New Zealand animator Reuben Sutherland. By combining practices, the pair's first test splattered a psychedelic palette that pushed them to explore sensorial intricacies emerging from chance operations. Raw materials for Sculpture's music include a mix of analog and digital practices. In Hayhurst and Sutherland's hands, tape manipulation, samples, found sounds, aleatoric and algorithmic programming and live improvisation become more complementary than you might imagine. At the center of Membrane Pop is a phenomenological approach to sound and performance. "Symbolic Molecule" is a morphing, unsettled groove, but its addictive properties remain potent. 'Polymorphic Operator' bubbles with a sort of chemical effervescence; the ghost of Jamaican dub modulating itself into an infinite haze. Sculpture's compositional predilection emerges amidst scrambled sound worlds in 'Hackle Scam Populator', while 'Distraction Display' is perhaps the closest ambient cut on the record. In the opening seconds of 'Lingual Junk', these moments appear to freeze and unthaw an old recording. As the track narrative unfurls, you can feel Hayhurst fighting to acclimate the sound from out of cryostasis and into his reality.