Tracklist:
1.1ÆRA
1.2VAHA
1.3RAI
1.4CYLO
1.5FLORA
1.6Y'SAR
2.1ANTRO
2.2ELAH
2.3ARCO
2.4NADIR
2.5ARIA
2.6DANZA
2.7LIBRA

A lavish four chapter chronicle that imagines an alternative evolution of mankind through sound, VIS (Latin for energy or force) is the result of a lengthy process of self-discovery, collaboration and research for Italian-German composer David August. The son of a classical pianist, August slipped from the academic music world into an early career as a dance music producer and DJ before he felt his artistic outlook shifting considerably. He established the adventurous 99CHANTS label in 2018, and has since used it as an output for his most progressive notions, collaborating most recently with jazz-noise vocalist Cansu Tanrikulu and Carnatic singer Sushma Soma on last year"s acclaimed "Imaginary Landscapes" compilation. VIS then is a chance for August to reconcile his personal narrative, leveling it with concepts that touch on history, transformation and metaphysics. He wrote the album"s 13 pieces to play like a linear storyline, tracking the development of culture from its illusory beginnings in Plato"s cave into the wider world and observing its progression and adaptation. August represents these themes with levitational orchestral drones, choirs and bells that slowly bend to long-forgotten ancestral rhythms, inevitably colliding with the digitized chaos of the information age. Motion guides everything, whether it"s shadows on a wall projected by dancing flames, or dramatic, overlayed rhythms that vibrate the air and excite the feet. VIS is a dynamic attempt to show the movement of time on a macro scale, looking backwards in order to move forwards. It charts mankind"s journey from its cosmic beginnings through the awe-inspiring world of flora and fauna, grounding the experience in rhythmic expression and dance before we"re returned to the stars in transcended form. Crucially, it"s a hopeful articulation of ideas and concepts that continue to echo throughout history, inviting us to imagine greater and cherish the teeming landscape that surrounds us. More

In 2021 experimental label & artistic platform 99CHANTS released chant#8: 'The Helicon Sessions', the debut album by Equations Collective, a multi-disciplinary artist group comprising Artefakt, Aroma Pitch, Aphelion, and Sphera De Noumenon. An expansive suite of improvised electronics combining drone, dub, techno and acid, 'The Helicon Sessions' were recorded at an outdoor, solar powered studio on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Greece. Following on from this in 2022, 99CHANTS presents chant#9: 'Equations Collective x Lena Platonos x Rabih Beaini', a brace of remixes that rework the album's original sessions. Inviting artists to reinterpret the release around ideas of reconstruction/deconstruction, this new record features pioneering Greek electronic musician, pianist, and lyricist Lena Platonos, in collaboration with Equations Collective member Yiorgos Konstantoulakis (aka Aphelion), alongside Lebanese-born producer, DJ and Morphine label head Rabih Beaini. Lena Platonos x Yiorgos Konstantoulakis' Side A 'reconstruction' of 'The Helicon Sessions' explores tense sonic atmospheres and incorporates subtle, kinetic drum machine susurration from Konstantoulakis, providing a setting for Platonos' Greek language spoken word poetry. On Side B, Beaini's 'deconstruction' of the sessions dives into percussive electronics inspired by specific rituals in West Java. Performed on an 808 and outboard gear, the track gradually builds to a full-bodied crescendo before introducing understated washes of melodic colour. More

The Equations Collective is an experimental sound project formed by a multi-disciplinary group of artists, active in the fields of music, photography, sound design & software development.The Equations Collective is a collaboration between Artefakt, Aroma Pitch, Aphelion and Sphera De Noumenon across Berlin, Amsterdam, Cologne and Hamburg. Together they have established an all night long live event in Berlin, starting at Sameheads and Acud Macht Neu, which eventually lead to their residency at OHM (Tresor). On the 'Helicon Sessions' the collective draw upon the inspiring topography and fabled mythological resonances of the area, unfurling an expansive, hypnotic suite of abstract electronics. Liberated by an open-ended, improvisational dynamic, the collective move through a mysterious, elemental cycle that mirrors the imposing scale and dramatic atmospheres of the setting. Across an entrancing, fluid sequence of five designated 'cuts', the collective traverse the borderlands of drone, techno, dub, and acid, amplifying the acoustic traces of Helicon by integrating field recordings collected at the site into this arresting body of work. With these recordings, the collective delineate an odyssey of subverted 303s, sputtering drum machines and formidable, oscillating low end that drifts and coalesces like an amorphous mirage; a spellbinding sound world of clarity and shadow. For this format they have collaborated with the following artists: Alex The Fairy, Anna Z, D-IX, Eliad Wagner, Jón Fridgeir Sigurdsson, Orson Wells, Phillip Jondo, Philipp Matalla, PRSMC, Rabih Beaini, Sabrina Gricourt, Sébastien Robert, and Vida Vojic. The respective members of The Equations Collective have released a range of output on the likes of Field Records, Delsin, Semantica Records, De Stijl, & Soul People Music. More

On the heels of two successful album tours through Europe and North America, two tracks from David August’s album D’Angelo are given two radically different takes from two titans of their fields, on David’s first official remix EP. The creation and story behind the original album showed a deeply personal process, and these new interpretations feel natural, and in tune with David’s original ethos.
Ron Trent reconstructs and extends Elysian Fields into a slowly evolving soulful house jam. Insistent drums, blissful guitar and piano themes are all perfectly interlocked, with David’s plaintive vocals reconstituted into a textured layer flowing underneath and above.
On the flip side, Rafael Anton Irisarri deconstructs Florence and rebuilds it into something grander, even more filmic than the original. Sparse, dripping piano, warbling, fizzing drones, and haunting spectres of voices phasing throught the mists bring to mind distant memories of a city, removed from any conception of time and space. Trying to remember.
TRACKLISTING / DURATION:
A. Florence (Rafael Anton Irisarri Deconstruction) 05:32 min
B. Elysian Fields (Ron Trent Reconstruction) 11:24 min
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