This Sabbath just gone probably took a darker turn than the Lord intended with the launch of an exciting new label. LXXII has been started by the Bristol-based artist and musician Graeme Swinton, who makes fragmented, reverb-heavy acid/techno under the name Palace Lido, and has provided print and digital artwork for a diverse range of artists and labels, including Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, XL and Domino. LXXII (it’s 72 in Roman numerals) was started primarily as a showcase for the "dismembered and lost" artists Swinton has stumbled upon online over the last year or so. "The ‘Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed’ as the Thin White Duke once said," he explains.
According to Swinton: "Now the last gasp of the EDM hubris has passed, the party is over and LXXII intends to document this with their uneven, fragmented assembly. Broken, woozy, gothic. The label sound has at its core an artificial intelligence, but the end product is way more disparate. It’s heartbreaking. Could it even be blacker than Blackest Ever Black?"
The first three releases, put out digitally yesterday (and available via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon, Beats Music, Rdio, Deezer and YouTube Music Key), originate from California, New York/LA and Austria. "There isn’t a scene. These are artists making music because they have to," says Swinton. Heartache has never sounded so good… Read on for the label boss’s guide to the artists:
Videa Gam – ‘Get To Know Me’ (LXXII 01)
Videa Gam is David from New York/LA. He describes himself as an anonymous urban dweller. The lead track for LXXII, ‘Get to Know Me’, comes from a collection of songs called Ultimate Loneliness Field Guide. These songs stem from "talking to people through computers". Detachment, safety through anonymity and patience all feature prominently in the music and they fuse beautifully into this heartrending hymn.
Deflection Pulley – ‘Looming’ (LXXII 02)
Deflection Pulley is Rosie from Vienna. She has described her work as "avardgardistic". It is an appropriation of found sounds, shaping noise. A pirate postmodernist retelling, restructuring and reframing of narratives. The lead track for LXXII, ‘Looming’, sounds broken yet utterly exciting. Rosie herself says she "follows the law of passion rather than one of perfection". ‘Looming’ is provoking; it’s breathless.
Wiicca – ‘Heather? (Why Am I So Distant)’ (LXXII 03)
Wiicca is Wolfie Rudz from California. He is a complicated gentleman, one who combines dedicated musical endeavour with excessive stimulant use. His music is equal parts DXM and MBV. Wolfie has said himself that he finds "beauty in harsh noise" and the lead track for LXXII, ‘Heather (Why Am I So Distant?)’, can be summed up perfectly with this description. A beautiful melody submerged in overwrought noise, heavy in every sense of the word.
Head to LXXII’s website for full details
