Alva Noto
Unieqav

In the Cyclo. project, conceived with Ryoji Ikeda, the producer Alva Noto attempted to evolve glitch music experiments, adapting them to a rhythmic and club-oriented context. This aspect is further explored in the "Uni" trilogy (Unitxt, Univrs, and Unieqav), which between 2008 and 2018 enriches its remarkable experiments. A clarification is necessary here: while Unitxt attempts to process data and information and Univrs places these elements in a cosmic and undefined void, Unieqav goes even further, presenting a Carsten Nicolai who doesn't just (so to speak) work as a "sound sculptor" but increasingly resembles a true musician.

Listening to Unieqav, it feels as though the artist has reached a milestone, successfully reconciling the sounds of "errors" with a musical form close to techno and IDM. This detail doesn't change the attitude of Nicolai/Noto, always interested in analyzing the nervous system's responses to certain frequencies or images. And when he claims that the album is the acoustic representation of an underwater immersion, we know it is his intellectual side speaking, wanting to examine the human mind scientifically and rigorously.

The initial "Uni Sub" is from the title a statement of intent, and in its six minutes, we find ourselves with wetsuit and oxygen tanks, engulfed by sounds that sneak into the folds of the subconscious. We soon realize that the album develops the relationship between micro and macrostructures, a topic already tackled years before with Mika Vainio. This is because there is a crescendo, a journey reaching a climax before slowing down, almost wanting to reproduce both the structure of the tracks and the experience of immersion, which reaches unexplored depths before resurfacing from the nocturnal waters (or the depths of the psyche).

"Uni Mia" is where an increase in tension is registered, thanks to its atmospheres inspired by Zen philosophy and the electro-acoustic experiments conducted with Ryūichi Sakamoto. With "Uni Version", things start to get serious, even if the textures seem unusually filtered and muffled: we're moving away from the outside world. The underwater techno of Unieqav is amplified by "Uni Normal", a track where the alternation between emptiness and fullness evokes an underwater adventure, like discovering a centuries-old sunken wreck. In "Uni Blue", we reach oceanic depths, accompanied by an Alva Noto never before so melodic. Messages from the past, fragments, codes may be encountered, as in "Uni Dna", a new collaboration with Anne-James Chaton, listing DNA sequences in an attempt to construct "a-narrative verbal architectures". From "Uni Edit" onward, the ascent begins, not without obstacles and decompression stops: hence the disjointed and fragmented beats, with a drum and bass flavor. "Uni Chord" marks the end of the experience, in a crescendo of pulses, electric guitars, and breaths that finally brings us to the surface.

Once the equipment is put away, it's clear that Unieqav has something both more and less than its predecessors. A greater accessibility distinguishes it, although its proposal may seem less innovative due to references to Autechre or Monolake from Gravity and Cinemascope. At the same time, its subliminal atmospheres might make one miss the violence and noise of Univrs, a masterpiece by the Chemnitz producer.

Beyond the criticisms, the work's charm is striking, an "aquatic" concept to be placed among Alva Noto's most convincing trials, who in Unieqav, besides confirming himself as a master of sound design, becomes finally a complete musician.

And we can't help but appreciate it.

Rating: 4/4.5