Kate Phore-Virevolte; DDDD Records, 2023

 

It's usually the case that when Disaster Amnesiac thinks about Electronic Music, my perceptions go to productions by artists such as Karlheinz Stockhausen or Elaine Radigue; in other words, sparse sound worlds that eschew lots of repetitions in rhythm. Listening to Kate Phore's Virevolte however, I've been reminded that Electronic Music now has a deep history of being richly endowed with rhythmic adeptness, stemming mostly from the works and innovations from within the Hip Hop world. Disaster Amnesiac is not saying that Kate Phore is producing Hip Hop. That realization has just helped me to frame Virevolte within a familiar context. Who can say why that's really needed, ultimately, but the issue continues to arise as I've listened. 

Pleasurable listening it's been, too! From the slippery rhythms and chill vibes of Klartraum, which also features a neat little Baroque-like lietmotif to the Boogie steps of Bel Air with its abstracted beats and lush chords and on to the more traditionally Electronic vibes of the swirly Sandworm, where you just have to love the addition of sruti box beats, enjoyment abounds from Virevolte. One is also treated to an auditory gallop on Horses and a kind of abstract nocturne from Aquablue, while Redite offers up the best of the sparseness of good Trip Hop. Each song on the album is in many ways its own little world, and yet Kate Phore makes the entire thing hang together as a very relatable and listenable whole work. 

As stated, a very pleasurable listen can be found within Virevolte. Disaster Amnesiac probably has to thank all of the Hip Hop and related artists from the past 40-odd years for helping my perceptions to be open to its perspective. That said, Kate Phore is quite obviously mining an aesthetic path of their own design, one that takes their influences and sculpts them into original new shapes.