Qasim Naqvi - Matic by Erased Tapes

Pakistani-American avant-composer and drummer of the cult experimental acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, Qasim Naqvi, has announced a new record titled 'Beta' to be released as a limited edition on clear vinyl for Record Store Day 2020 on June 20.

Meant as a sister release to last year’s acclaimed six-part modular synth suite 'Teenages', 'Beta' is a series of experiments chronicling Naqvi’s understanding of writing for this type of instrument and the growth of the instrument itself.

“Beta is a prequel to the story of 'Teenages'. At the time I had the most basic elements of a modular synthesiser — one oscillator and a random voltage generator which is a module that releases sporadic currents through the system. Ironically, this component provided a lot of warmth and humanness to the music, a kind of fallibility. I fed simple melodic ideas and rhythmic patterns into this bare bones setup and observed the responses, while occasionally guiding the music in other directions. It was like a diagnostic test. At the time I felt that this music was underdeveloped but listening back, I think the 'Beta' tracks add an interesting dimension to the entire 'Teenages' arc. They’re the zygotes.” — Qasim Naqvi

The B side of 'Beta' is a live performance of the track 'Teenages', which was recorded at the first Erased Tapes x LCO: Purcell Session at Southbank Centre, London in February 2019.

If 'Teenages' captured the sound of electronics living, breathing and mutating of their own accord, 'Beta' rather describes the moment they came to life.

Visit the official RSD website: https://recordstoreday.co.uk/releases/rsd-2020/qasim-naqvi/