60NICE is a brand new label founded by a married couple from New Jersey, one of whom has a background in audio engineering. The two initially set out plans for the label during spring of last year with the intention to help support artists who create exciting and inspiring music that tends to fall under the radar. Another important aspect of their vision for 60NICE is audio fidelity; they note that they want their releases to sound as best as they possibly can, with a full stereo image, dynamic ranges that breathe without fatiguing and mixes and masters that have extreme depth and clarity. Indeed, they stay true to this vision on their inaugural release, Procedural World – 2,008 Children, from the New York-based experimental electronic producer trngs.
In computing terms, a TRNG is a ‘true random number generator,’ a device that generates random numbers from a physical process, rather than an algorithm. Listening to the deranged computer music of trngs, it becomes abundantly clear that this generative methodology informs their practice. On previous releases for Gin & Platonic & International Winners, trngs showcases the visceral, maximalist glitch aesthetic that characterizes their sound, confronting the listener with a dizzying array of arrhythmic percussive clatter and digitized noise artifacts.
With Procedural World – 2,008 Children, trngs welcomes us into a dynamic, hyper-real environment that progressively reveals itself with every programmed micro-gesture. Thanks, in part, to mastering engineer Jeremy Cox, trngs’ production design here sounds exceptionally hi-def. One almost gets the sense that they are listening to bits and bytes of data being uploaded to their brain in real time. Perhaps this is the case on album opener “Real Data Set for Digitally Mapping Your Environment,” a mechanized, multi-layered track that sees trngs utilizing esoteric and mundane samples to generate erratic, entangled beat formations. “Real Data Set” is effectively disorienting, teasing the listener with semblances of structure and hints of realism that dissipate without warning. There is no algorithm for trngs’ music, this is a ‘true random’ creation.
Procedural World – 2,008 Children is out 06/10/20 on 60NICE on 12″ vinyl and digital release. Pre-order it here.
Artwork: Sam Rolfes