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Dystopian electronic project Detraction has a new album out. This one fascinatingly introduces pop sensibilities through trip hop beats that weave in and out of the experimental, dense soundscapes. As a concept the whole thing feels like one is retrieving fond moments out of distorted dreams. The final track drones on as if the dreams are becoming more vivid until ultimately they wither away. Detraction juxtaposes joy and dysphoria in a poignant way.

via/Breaking And Entering https://breakingandentering.net/2021/09/02/audio-detraction-umami-land/

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This is a complex album. Production started in October of 2020, then it became a collaboration and then became a type of retrospective when unfinished tracks from 2017 were added and remixed. Umami Land is more or less a meta-album, spanning 4 years of input marked by collaborating with outside influences. It was a difficult recording to archive, and it had many phases in development. At one point it was almost decommissioned, yet the ice thawed and necessary improvements were acknowledged. Umami Land became a conglomeration of forces ranging from past/present/foreign input and output methodologies marked by a cohesive flow of texts, emojis and other goodness.
It’s not a perfect album by any means, yet it strives for the Sun.
I hope you all enjoy this splendid round of recordings.

A very heavy thanks to Matt Dardis, my prime co-conspirator on two tracks in this venture, and his profoundly-relentless artistry, meticulous track engineering and super-sense of humor. And a heavy thanks to Pat Glassel for letting me remix his ‘Quench the orange sun’ [a] into unrecognizable certainty, and for his grace on opening its release for this album.

All proceeds from this album are going to The Humane Society International until the end of time. Both collaborators wanted no monetary cut from this venture, so I focused on what we all love, that of the welfare of all animals large and small.

Track listing and attributes [b]:

1) Nostalgia (Dubec/2020)
2) [anxiety feeds paranoia] assassins at every corner (Dubec/2020)
3) Ritual (Dardis/Dubec/2020)
4) I’ll always love you (Dubec/2020)
5) On three legs (Dubec/2017-2021)
6) Apophenia (Dardis/Dubec/2020)
7) Everyone referred to him as Colonel (Dubec/2017-2021)
8) Syntax and Memory (Dubec/Glassel/2019)

Esoteric titles/design nomenclatures:

1) Nostalgia 102120 V4 – 8:1:21, 12.52 AM
2) [anxiety feeds paranoia] assassins at every corner 101120 PS v4
4) I’ll always love you 110320 102120 re ps rev 3 – 7:11:21, 12.12 AM
5) On three legs 072917v7 – 8:8:21, 12.50 AM
6) Apophenia/Rebirth (Dardis/Dubec) v2 – 8:5:21, 10.07 PM CUT
7) Everyone referred to him as Colonel 071117 [2021 redux 070421] vol adjust 082721
8) Syntax and Memory (Dubec/Glassel) QUENCH April 23, 2019, 9.24 PM CUT

Collaboration notes:

1) Ritual (Dardis/Dubec/2020)
Dardis supplied all source material, and Dubec stretched, reversed, layered, added some tambourine and conceptualized the final mix.

2) Apophenia (Dardis/Dubec/2020)
Dardis supplied all source material, and Dubec stretched, reversed, layered and conceptualized the final mix.

3) Syntax and Memory (Dubec/Glassel/2019)
Glassel supplied ‘Quench the orange sun’ [a], and Dubec added rhythm, synth, stretch, layering and final mix.

Final Notes:
[a] ‘Quench the orange sun’ by Perplexions:
https://soundcloud.com/user-164068566/quench-the-orange-sun

[b] collaborators are in alphabetical order, followed by year

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Breaking And Entering reviewed the video ‘Progression’ from the album ‘above/so below’ with some kind words:

Experimental electronic artist Detraction has a new video out from his recent album “As Above/So Below.” It begins with a slow-motion shot of a snow shower on a busy Milwaukee street, eventually switching to a rain shot filmed in reverse. In the second half, close-ups of the puddles flowing down the curbs reflect a fascination by perpetual motion of matter. Then we are taken into Fresh Thyme Market, where people are lined up with their groceries, ending with a shot of a big unicorn balloon. It seems to be a commentary about the movement of society against the elements while other objects remain perfectly still. Detraction is working on another album due out later this year.

https://breakingandentering.net/2021/05/28/video-detraction-progression/

Once again, big thank you to Ben Slowey and your pure words. Thank you once again.