Senyawa vs Black To Comm Alkisah - Versi Hitam (2021)

Black To Comm's spannered psychedelic inversions of Senyawa's percussive experimental trax might be our fave to emerge from the remix project so far. Overdriven, foamy noise built out of dissociated wind tunnel vox, granulated drums and tectonic plate shifting power ambient drones. Fucking massive.

The latest artist to take on Indonesian duo Senyawa's "Alkisah" album is Hamburg-based Marc Richter, aka Black To Comm. There have been a few different takes on the source material so far, but by working in long-form Richter manages to establish a fully-formed world, taking apart the original album completely and reconstructing it in his inimitable style.

Distortion is the key element here, and Richter pushes Senyawa's components full into the red, blurring drums and Indonesian instrumentation until it buckles and breaks into fragments of feedback and white noise. His treatments are harmonic somehow; while the original tracks were more stark, Richter's arhythmic, psychedelic approach is completely in line with the duo's process, and nothing about this version feels surplus to requirement.

Rather, it adds a completely new dimension to the original album - Richter feels like the third member of the band as he levitates disparate ingredients with the glee and serendipitous charm of an evil sorcerer. If you've already tracked down the wash of Senyawa remixes and are experiencing ear fatigue - rinse 'em out with soap and water.