[Album] I-VT – BLOC

"unashamedly experimental arty electronic noise" 

"a bunch of urban dystopian noise. It’s the lead-footed reving of double decker buses, the whine of deliveroo scooters, the roar of street cleaning trucks. A love affair with harsh reflective soundscapes. An IDM techno fest of the scraping of your soul." – Acid Ted 

Inquiring into the experiments and techniques taught at the Underground Producers Alliance, Adam Cuthbért’s spectral techno project I-VT releases its debut full-length album, BLOC, on UPA's house label. 

BLOC’s 52-minute program, following 2017’s CONSTITUENT EP, presents a complex array of tangled rhythms, swarming drones, transforming vocal cuts and distorted melodies that hit deep on a sound system. 

Supported by a diverse bloc of more than a dozen guest instrumentalists, producers, and remixers, I-VT explores the tense air of a nervous sociopolitical environment festering in the depths of the collective NYC psyche. Field recordings of protest nights and sonic Brooklyn street scenes punctuate themes of anxiety and overwhelmedness as the composer traces the coarse edge between communal optimisim and solitary nihilism. 

Executive produced by Underground Producers Alliance in collaboration with the Ghost Program. Produced by Adam Cuthbért. Shahzad Ismaily [bass 2,4,5,9,10,11], Juma Sultan [percussion 2,3,7,8,9], Raz Mesinai [piano 5,9], Chandanie [vocals 7,8,9], Adam Cuthbért [synthesizers 1-12] recorded by Shahzad Ismaily & Sam Owens at Figure 8 Recording, Brooklyn, NY. Phong Tran [sample processing 1], Jonathan Fulk [guitar 10] recorded by Adam Cuthbért at slashsound, Brooklyn NY. Field recording & sound design by Adam Cuthbért. Additional sound design by Raz Mesinai [2,4,11,12] & Todd Krupa [9]. Vocal, synth & percussion processing recorded by Scott Harding at Scotty Hard’s, Brooklyn, NY. Edited & Mixed by Adam Cuthbért [1,5,9,10], Raz Mesinai [2,4,7,11,12], Daniel Rhode [3], Benjamin Young [6], & Chris Jeffries [8]. Mastered by Raz Mesinai at UPA, Brooklyn NY. Art & design by Adam Cuthbért with special thanks to the anonymous artist who drew the “sad girl” on a vacant ad spot in an NYC subway station. IVT’s work is published by 2future Music (ASCAP) and is a member of the slashsound collective [http://slashsound.net] For more releases from UPA Records visit [http://records.upa.nyc]