Audiences will impose meaning as they see ?t, relative to their own contexts, and the convergence of our emotional literacy can draw us to one another. In 2018, Ripperton gifted the ESP Institute with Sight Seeing, and we became tourists joining the artist's departure from the comforts of his known creative narratives, however, with his tender monument of devotion, Contrails, we now ?nd ourselves blissfully lost in his code. These expansive 73 minutes are punctuated midway by a poignant solitary confession—
“I’m afraid of what I might ?nd, but I’m even more afraid of not facing this fear. I love you. I love you more than my life.”—in accordance with the fundamentals of Minimalism, the vast negative space bookending these words undoubtedly ampli?es their signi?cance. “I’m afraid of what I might ?nd…” Communication comes easy for some artists; the tools are obvious, logical and tangible, the dialogue is palatable and their art is often ino?ensive. For others, there may be con?ict, trauma or fear that result in pragmatic challenges—the tools feel foreign, deep complexities give way to creative paralysis, and communication struggles to ?nd its form and emerge—the art becomes as much a therapeutic confessional as is a formal exercise. “…But I’m even more afraid of not facing this fear…” Within the residue of the artist’s emotional labor, full of nuance, reservation and vulnerability, is potent code that can neither be taught nor learned, an elusive unknown whose shadows some spend a lifetime chasing, trying in vain to articulate or translate, often at their own peril. “…I love you. I love you more than my life.” It’s this code that inexplicably tethers the soul to art—music being perhaps the most magnetic attractor of all—capable of true love upon ?rst encounter. The blood ?ows like rapids, the hairs on the back of the neck stand erect, the heart surrenders absolutely to a romantic chemistry and a mutual bond is forged, a love to defend with vigor. We own the music and the music owns us. We are enamored, without words, simply head-over-heels. More

Swiss artist and veteran producer Ripperton contacted the ESP Institute out of the blue mid-2017 to share a gorgeous mix of self-produced material, a collection of pieces made without any agenda outside of representing the self, not geared toward the dancefloor or a specific environment but simply a bi-product of introspective exploration. We were floored, the mix was on constant repeat in our world for weeks, then was subsequently pulled apart into separate titles to form this beautiful double LP, Ripperton’s debut with the label. The title Sight Seeing speaks of someone stepping outside their current reality to look in the mirror, as if to ground themselves and keep sight of who they are in a world of extreme highs and lows. Inspired greatly by expansive landscapes and views from airplane windows (imagine your commute flying over the Alps every weekend), Ripperton describes this collection as postcards to himself, messages from his subconscious recorded on tape (both conceptually and literally), melancholy soundtracks to the Mondays that follow weekend journeys. While musical genres tend to cycle through bandwagon moments, the ESP Institute strives to operate independently of these, and while Sight Seeing is undoubtably an Ambient album, we’re simply proud to revel in the chance moment where an esteemed artist such as Ripperton spreads his wings in a beautifully unexpected mode of expression. More

Label headman Ripperton strikes back on his own Tamed label with 2 new songs and a collaborative jam with his Berlin favorite fellow Quarion.

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Swiss producer Ripperton returns to present his new studio album “A Little Part Of Shade” due for release June 2013. The musician’s second full-length album will further deepen his impressive catalogue of work and follow the 2010 critically acclaimed “Niwa” seeing his return to Joris Voorn and Edwin Oosterwal’s Amsterdam based Green label. “A Little Part Of Shade” uses sympathetic touches of club synthetics to underline fluidly written and playful melodies. Ripperton gained popularity as a producer with his Lazy Fat People project releasing on high profile labels such as Border Community, Planet E, or Wagon Repair; he rapidly grew as a solo artist with an almost endless run of key releases on Green, Liebe Detail, Connaisseur, Music Man, Systematic, Dessous and remixes for Radiohead (“Nude”), Laurent Garnier (“Controlling The House”), Ellen Allien (“My Tree”), Beanfield (“Tides”), Max Copper (‘Egomodal’) labeled him as a refined studio producer, adding a newfound sense of introspection to electronic house music. Since the release of Niwa in 2010, Ripperton has been busy working on this album – combining traditional song craft with a more familiar rhythmical style. “A Little Part Of Shade is about the part of shade that everyone has. It's about the private garden; it’s quite the opposite of Niwa. It's an inside garden. It can be bright or dark or in the middle. It can destroy or help you…” If you weren't convinced of Raphaël Ripperton’s compositional talent by his debut album, his sophomore release will do the trick. The LP’s multiple programmed rhythms loosely mimic a more natural world and see’s him work alongside a variety of artists including Hemlock Smith, the multi talented writer, graphist and photographer Van Hai, and Germain Umdenstock, whom features on the opening lead track “A Little Part Of Shade”; providing guitar melodies over his carefully constructed landscapes. Drawing on the collaborative talents from his own highly respected independent Perspectiv label Ripperton’s track “Black Wall” features the vocals of Masaya and succeeds in demanding an almost attentive listen. “A Little Part Of Shade” conjoins emotional forces with Rippertons fascinating use of soundscapes and contains smooth instrumentation throughout before closing with the achingly soulful “Spike” featuring Hemlock Smith’s tender vocals. The thirteen musically broad and emotionally deep tracks that are included in “A Little Part Of Shade reflect Rippertons approach to electronic music production, song writing attitude, and the sense of poignant delivery that extends far beyond the purview of techno clubs.

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Featuring a Ghostek remix!

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