Recurring Errors
Slovakia’s Urbanfailure has pursued abstracted, cybernetic electronica since the late ’90s. Central to the work is the exploratory interlocution of synths and hardware in crafting a barrage of machined rhythm and terse eruptions of noise. Urbanfailure transmits mutating patterns and sequences from his electronics that are as nimble as they are brutal. Quick turns, jump scares and slights of hand run rampant amidst the crunchy drum programming and granular modulations. Recurring Errors evolved from his previous work Radical Rest. However, this time he recorded all tracks as live improvisation. Cybernetic tendrils of raw electricity erupt and collapse along these unstable spines of rhythm.
The album’s steady pulse leaps through creative tangents and detours that are intentionally spare on melody and devoid of anthemic hooks. “Drain” scatters an intricate dispersion of mechanoid samples before coalescing into a muscular techno groove. “Invasive”, “Compatibility Issue” and “Beyond Concrete” boils with jackbooted, high-octane hard beats excess and industrial bruitism.
Urbanfailure’s origins date back to the time after the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the rush towards a globalized free market. With the opportunities for cultural exchange and economic prosperity made manifest, Slovak (like other post-Soviet countries) was open to a Pandora’s Box of influences. Punk. Techno. Metal. Noise. All of these inspired the DIY underground, but at the same time, many of the agents and operatives in the Slovak music community were quick to take inspiration from the gritty immediacy of social turmoil and upheaval. Thus, Urbanfailure’s process of construction and destruction of sound becomes a mirror to the changing Slovak society that he has witnessed for the two decades.
Bold in execution and dynamic in content, Recurring Errors is a vibrant synthesis of
error, emptiness, and raw energy, with parallels emergent in Chu Ishikawa’s Testuo,
The Iron Man soundtracks, the Lagowski productions for GPR, and the final fruits from
Pan Sonic.
Music by Michal Lichý a.k.a. Urbanfailure
Artwork by Vladimira Pcolova
Digital mastering by Roland Nagy
Cassette mastering by Róbert Bereznyei
Urbanfailure – Until Errors Prevail
Limited edition of 50 (10 per color variation) four-color screen-printed T-shirts with design and typography by Vladimira Pcolova.
T-shirts are high-quality heavy cotton.
Unisex, M/L/XL sizes available.