Sacred Phrases

LXV & Karmelloz – ‘Runner’ CS
Runner finds two of the avant-electronic underground’s boldest and brightest minds teaming up for a series of long-distance collaborations. Philadelphia musician David Sutton has led a prolific run of addled textures and synthetic, meditative edits under his LXV moniker, as well as formerly under the name Current Amnesia and Car Commercials (with Daniel DiMaggio). Recording as Karmelloz, Oregon-based producer Matthew Pepitone creates elusive, genre-agnostic bouts of rhythm for a variety of forward-thinking labels, including 1080p, Cleaning Tapes, and Hoko Sounds. Born out of a mutual appreciation of each other’s work, the partnership began with a series of messages before naturally evolving into a full-blown project. Together, Sutton and Pepitone’s respective approaches and sonic traits blur into a cohesive collage of sound. Opener “Trapwire” sets the stage with unhurried curiosity, listening to the space between each artist and letting each piece fall into place. The song’s whispered, alien vocals eventually dissolve into darker, slightly more grotesque and clipped drones. Those haphazard and beautifully disfigured vocals later return on “Cost of Caring,” intermixed with a dizzying display of agile production and hued malignancy of “Guitar Store” and “Runner.” Elsewhere, “Mr. Untouchable” and closer “Crypto” emphasize the open-ended, potential of this still-young collaboration. We can only hope this is the beginning of a long and prolific pairing. Clear cassette with white imprint. Fold-out j-card and download code for digital copy.

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