Richard Devine
Lipswitch

The dual license Warp / Schematic has never seemed so appropriate. "Lipswitch," 2001, the first full-length by the abstract and mechanical Richard Devine as we know him now, embraces both the editorial line of the seminal English label (which will handle its distribution on a European scale) and that of the lesser-known American reality (which at the time, overseas, had a decent and well-deserved elite following): that repetitiveness and lack of risk sadly typical of the second Warp era (thus the '00s), that radical approach, continuous injection of new ideas, brains in turmoil and heavy experimentation that made Miami's Schematic a true reference point concerning the boldest territories of IDM-inspired electronics (although it would be wrong to limit it to that!), a label so 'advanced' and revolutionary that it was never really understood, leading to its inevitable closure, probably the offspring of a wide audience too accustomed to the caressing melodies of Boards of Canada or the iconographic proposals of Aphex Twin, to mention the two most popular names of the period, without particular dislikes. It's the same crowd that will reject/misunderstand/snob/underestimate an epochal album, with a clear 'Schematic' imprint, like "Untilted," a masterpiece of the entire music scene (even before the micro-realities of Autechre or Warp), only to later exalt the famous "Tri Repetae," which clearly remains an undeniable 10/10, but in reality, it didn't showcase anything that hadn't already been conceived by less known artists (or even by Autechre themselves), an album that—with due proportions—I like to define as their pop album, beautiful but undeniably with few risks, less brilliant compared to the rest of their production (except for two or three truly monumental episodes), made of easy melodies, clean structures, tricks to make it more accessible even to ears less accustomed to certain sounds (or coming from third realities—its fame, for instance, is renowned in rock-specific environments), and all this precisely when, in the same year, relegated to an ep, came out a masterpiece like "Garbagemx36," an atypical track with a very personal style that, unlike anything previously created, knew how to fuse IDM, techno, ambient, electro, Detroit, dub-techno, and glitch into a single piece, an epic fourteen-minute ride that could even envy the suites of Pink Floyd in the progressive version.

Are we digressing? Yes and no. Indeed, Autechre owe much to Schematic. Schematic owes much to Autechre. Let's therefore take "Lipswitch" as all intents and purposes a Schematic more than a Warp; I would indeed speak of a sort of scavenging by the latter; not surprisingly, the main release and contract signing date back to Schematic, but aided by the good response obtained by the "Come to Daddy" remix (hit from Aphex Twin) labeled Richard Devine, an attempt was made to cash in a bit, a very personal opinion, but one that I don't believe is very far from reality. It's a mini-album (barely forty minutes long) that can surely be said to be distant from the stratospheric level reached in the monumental subsequent releases (ultra-complex, brilliant works, difficult to replicate/imitate and already well embedded in the history of electronic music) [ - I don't exaggerate with superlatives since dealing with this character, they are common practice - ] which, however, does not fail to already showcase all the genius of the radical producer from Atlanta, the grandiosity of what is the father of some of the most complex and layered compositions that have ever reached human ears.

Always involved in everything concerning the worship and form of 'sound', Devine is, among other things, a sound engineer, sound designer for boards of the most prestigious VSTi houses, author of numerous avant-garde plug-ins as well as a respected signature of innovative audio technologies (both hardware and software), author of perfectly balanced live shows between improvisation and maniacal pre-programming (the latter being his trademark), and considering his natural talent and the overexposure granted by a renowned and anything but underground label like Warp, a skilled remixer, from the very start sought after by important names - such as Herbert, Enduser, Aphex Twin and friend/colleague Otto Von Schirach. But above all, Richard Devine is a rather peculiar character, a precise-perfectionist individual to inexpressible levels (his creations indeed take years and years), a first-class geek, one who, maybe, to see him in the face, wouldn't differ much from those somewhat unfortunate nerds model 'Silvano Rogi', but who then, on the other hand, are capable of bringing out some of the most devastating things ever broadcast on the ether. That said, it is not exactly the case with this debut, undoubtedly more 'human' and slightly naïve (but only and uniquely if related to what he will let us hear in the future), in any case, a must consider for anyone interested in this artist's evolution and the more creative IDM (it's worth repeating, if the Warp of 2001 was already deteriorating and declining, a completely different matter is the legendary Schematic, a label that more than anyone has managed to bring IDM to new uncharted shores, making experimentation an essential factor, and that lives precisely in that year its most glorious moment.

The art of Devine is renowned; every minute sound that is possible to hear in his compositions, whether it is the futuristic synth, the cavernous drone, or the most insignificant micro-percussion, is programmed from scratch (often the sources themselves—synth, vst, etc.—are designed by him), vivisected in its entirety, caring to the extreme for the smallest detail of the smallest particular of the even smallest sound; after all, there is no need to go to Atlanta, just use Google, type his name, and glance at his massive studios to understand what kind of character we are talking about (being an artist who exploits digital technologies and the most performing vsts a lot, it is obvious to imagine how what we will find inside his laptops is even more substantial). So, who is Richard Devine? Mainly an experimenter of great depth, a genius, the perfect antithesis of the famous 'bedroom producer' figure, as he is professional and without leaving anything, absolutely anything, to chance; following closely is a madman, a sound fetishist, someone who has even sampled his heartbeat to make a rhythmic element. Richard Devine represents one of the most significant and well-defined entities for decade-gone experimental electronics, a character who loves risk and novelty, one you hear, and immediately you recognize his unmistakable touch, in years when among max/msp-ian electronics, microwave, fenneszian impro, digital artists, tons of drone releases and field recording, it is challenging to find ideas that have not already been the result of some mind working in the second half of the previous decade (it's obvious, for instance, when evaluating a Line release, no matter how juicy and well-made, you trace it back to Raster Noton, and then, in turn, to Markus Popp's experiments), while for Devine the 'root' question does not arise, although, from some perspectives, similar to Autechre, his style is incredibly personal and unique in its kind.

His modus operandi is not dissimilar from that of a much more celebrated Squarepusher, that is, engaging stories conceptually suspended between a jazz and progressive rock approach, where, however, the live bass, the dry percussions, and the enticing melodies of the latter are replaced by very dark drones, oceans of harsh and ferrous sounds that cannot but recall the best industrial assaults, showers of metallic collages that instead recall the dynamic and uncategorizable realms of master Steven Stapleton, Stockhausen-inspired formulas, tons and tons of experimentation. If I had to find an adjective to describe Devine's music, more than experimental or abstract (since much more appropriate has been heard under such terminologies), it would definitely be "creative." Very creative.

Devine experiments, free from barriers and clichés, as one always wishes those serving electronic music would do (whose practically infinite potential makes those using it clumsily / pop / lazily appear ridiculous and laughable - even worse if with ideas copied from third parties who arrived before and/or pretentious star attitudes - and I think of people like Jarre, Vangelis, Underworld, Air, Fatboy Slim, Crookers, Moby, Guetta, Gary Numan etc., while Devine we put in the category of experimenters/creatives/eclectics/visionaries/anti-stars/anti-commercial rules; more simply Artists with guts, thus in the same container along with people of broad and very open inventive currents, connectable to concrete music, industrial, apocalyptic folk, abstract IDM, Detroit-techno, free jazz, ambient-techno, experimental rock, etc., but which, in most cases, are challenging to label, precisely because of their ability to break pre-packaged and already existing patterns.

His music is well balanced between the abstract, the conventional, and a successful mix of the two, often without hesitating to throw in regular beats that sink their roots into the experimental hip hop of Mush/Anticon or the more destructive powernoise, but which see emerging in the background rivers of irregular metrics, noise assaults, and sounds never heard before. We can provide an adequate comparison by citing the well-known Matmos, capable of experimenting heavily as well as indulging in decidedly easier song formats. Monumental is the intro "Resource, Leak", which introduces us to a journey through the meanders of the most crepuscular electronics, annihilating us with a fearsome assembly of wild glitches and bacchanalia of metallic chaos, placed lightly on the majestic 'droned' carpet, reminiscent of the legendary industrial-ambient architectures under the Kranioklast brand. "Patelle" references the Autechre of the same period, erecting sinusoidal paths where the most diverse species (non) living meet, blips, and clicks of all kinds, scraps of aseptic rhythms, forcing a virtually non-existent song form, entrusted only to their unpredictable evolution, but almost always leaving the bass drum pattern fixed, almost representing the ground on such paths, the cover of the captivating Devinian essays; homage to Autechre can be found in the same outro, which, as often happened in their productions, relies on mere aformic/arrhythmic noise, as if that ground itself ends up collapsing. The tremors are noticeable.

The formula is repeated with the subsequent pair, "Route, Increment" (a brief dark-ambient vignette) and "Swap, Trigger", with its nervous and uncertain gait, suspended as it is between breakcore, industrial, noise, hip hop, and the wise manipulations on every single sound (sounds, it is worth highlighting, very singular, programmed maniacally, often impossible to follow/identify), which ensure that nothing ever truly repeats itself (except, again, the kick part, which for the record would make walls collapse), a track conceptually married to the most cohesive jazz ensemble, with rhythmic evolutions emulating trumpet improvisation, cymbals playing the part of the drums, the kick strokes standing like Mingus' notes did to a basic double bass line, keeping it more or less in place, halfway between a primary and secondary role, not abstaining, however, from substantial variations on the theme nor spaces where it can stand out, impose, dominate over everything. "Kepter" might be the most powerful track, with a hip hop-like beat so devastating and dirty it reminds us of the best productions of "Funcrusher Plus," fierce and relentless micro-rhythms, in constant mutation, visionary layers of pads that lead straight to Detroit; the same applies to "Block, Variation", which at some point even allows itself a four-on-the-floor beat, with belligerent accents, bpm reduced to the bone, and a destructive attitude that reminds us a bit of early EBM; what follows this four-on-the-floor is nothing short of stunning: a delirium of sounds (of every kind, every timbre, every length) rarely heard before (the same happens on the incredible "Scatter, Fold, 28", if possibly even more technical), architectures so complex and intertwined that it is reasonable to ask if Devine has done anything in his life other than programming sounds.

So, there's a bit of everything in the American's music, a sort of singer-songwriter approach entrusted to machines, dispensing cultured quotes, brilliant and refined themes that can range from the provocations of early industrial to the futuristic visions of Kraftwerk, passing through Detroitian philosophies, the heavy artillery of German techno, and Eno's non-musician concepts. However, whereas the theorist of crap Otto Von Schirach, especially in what is his most recent/current reincarnation, condenses this in weirdo/anti-music approaches comparable to the art of New Blockaders or the most caricatural Residents, with delirious collages aimed at ridiculing everything and everyone (I take this opportunity to (re)advertise this highly underrated artist, in my opinion, the greatest of the last ten years in electronic, pointing out the brilliant parody on low-level dubstep alias commercial-American dubstep alias remix of Rusko and the like, the parody on IDM producers, in their nerdiest-serious side, complete with a clever text "wiccan get together... idm...usb...aids!!"), Devine does so in small doses, and in a far from bizarre manner, taking himself all too seriously, using imperceptible elements, not always traceable, that require adequate preparation, a real knowledge of the facts, strong of theories that will undoubtedly be more visible on an album like "Aleamapper," full as it is of references to all the masters of '50s, '60s, '70s electronics, to concreta music and industrial.

The crown jewel is however the last track, an astute choice by Devine, one of closing his work with an epic, theatrical, pompous finale: "Lens, Align" is indeed something rarely heard before, with totally abstract rhythms, insane arrangements culminating in a sense of paranoia, bewilderment, and anxiety few times reached to such elevated proportions in the genre, furthermore that artificial string carpet remains etched, unveiling a dismissed apocalyptic theme, a warning of the destructive aftermath that will follow this dazzling debut, signals from an undefined being, not from this world, which usually goes by the name Richard Coleman Devine. And if this were his true identity rather than a pathetic photoshopped image intended to sell his image? It is not given to know; in any case, it's an image that better than a thousand words captures the 'head' of ours, the source of some of the most complex and complicated music history remembers, music entirely out of this world, and "Lipswitch"—which incidentally would kick the butt of a good 70% of the records currently released—is nothing but a mere taste, 10% of the potential of an artist who with a masterpiece disc like "Aleamapper" will amaze the entire world.