10-20
10-20 | hpll034

Release Date: 2009-03-16

10-20's self titled album is a claustrophobic hulk of a release, constructed from parts of discarded machinery, short-circuiting currents of krautrock, broken hip hop structures, dense aquatic substreams and spectral elements, all of which are funnelled towards a single cohesive hypnotic pulse.

Based in devon, the coastal and elemental forces of the producer's environment are evident in the scope of intricate sounds layered and woven into rough shorn textures, where only a filtered ghostly impression of club-land's influence can be discerned within the resultant sound.

Displaying a versatility in composition the album follows an arc from opening track 'miluvs''s vaccum sealed melody, the vertiginous ascent of 'nei'; the viscous sluggishness of 'jjuvxszla', confused machine-funk of 'wdtrhjvelgrad', and the amniotic warmth of 'InB'; culiminating in the post-gravitational trajectory of 'arcadeagle' and dub-soaked pressure of 'sA' before the elegiac closing descent of 'unde'.

Reviews

"Flowing like a winding river through industrial landscapes, his productions embrace the poison and pollution of a lifetime spent pondering numerous genres of electronica. 10-20 has made an album that merges the weight of ambience and the afflictions of genres like hip hop, dubstep and techno, crackling it all together with panache and an irrefutably deft touch. Simply superb."
Sonic Router

"This is quite a challenging work, but there is something hypnotic about it, despite its rhythmic complexities. Pertinent comparisons could be made to Pan Sonic and Autechre, but there is more of a sense of dirty fingernails and oily boiler-suits about it than white-coated technicians. It feels more akin to engineering and industry than to pure science. It's a claustrophobic work with occasional shafts of sunlight gleaming through, but nevertheless hugely engaging. It's certainly one of the most original electronic albums I've heard for a while - I think we'll be hearing a lot more from 10-20 whoever he or she may be."
Music Musings and Miscellany

"New on Highpoint Lowlife comes this debut album from Devon-based producer 10-20, whose obscure, impersonal nom de plume hardly reflects the intense, rich and oddly emotive electronics that make this first full-length so engaging. You'll find yourself reminded of the clicks+cuts movement at its very best on pieces like 'wdtrhjvelgrad' - a track which carries a hard, snapping beat that could have been lifted from one of Andreas Tilliander's early Mokira albums - whilst also suggesting the immersive, texture-laden soundscapes of Burial. For all its ponderous, meticulously pieced together production, when 'unde' comes about, its rampaging drum shuffle injects some eleventh hour energy into the album, which suddenly sounds nearly as organic and virtuosic as Autechre at their florid best. Impressive stuff from the Highpoint Lowlife label."
Boomkat

"If Aphex Twin was for a moment contemplating reinventing dubstep, he probably wouldn't go any other way than that adopted on this album. Influences are palpable, but they are so intricately woven into the fabric of this record that they are ultimately difficult to trace back to their respective sources for sure. The eight tracks collected here are so strong and individual that this ultimately rapidly becomes secondary. Whoever hides behind 10-20 is in possession of a powerful flair for complex organic electronic music and should be given all the attention they deserve"
The Milk Factory

"The thread that binds 10-20 is the dense web of sound lurking behind each track, a shimmering tapestry of machine noise, circuit hum and coastal field recording. In 'jjuvxszla' and 'wdtrhjvelgrad', for example, pointilistic shards dance and twitter like clinical Mille-Plateaux experiments, smeared into a dubbed-out haze. The aptly titled 'Arcadeagle' beautifully fuses 'real' and synthetic sources, delayed arcade blare awash in confused static, while the rhythm swoons like Wolfgang Voigt. 10-20 offers plenty for attentive listeners, and those keen on more skewed dancefloors."
Cyclic Defrost

"There's a real glut of new underground producers in Britain right now, sharing a broken space between hip-hop, dubstep, RnB and techno. The last time I was this excited about a group of musicians was - well, almost a year and a half ago, when Zomby, Rustie, Darkstar and their assorted kin came to prevalence in late 2007/early 2008. Right now feels like the second wave of the-phenomenon-thankfully-no-longer-called-wonky - or at least a succession of producers influenced by that first wave - people like Floating Points, Sbtrkt, Rekordah, most of the people featured on Alex Nut's forthcoming Rinse 08 comp (which increasingly, to my ears, is sounding like a reference point every bit as telling and micro-era defining as the Kode 9 and Flying Lotus Rinse session from late 07). And 10-20, a Devonshire based producer who's just put out his debut album on Highpoint Lowlife"
FACT Magazine

"Highpoint Lowlife have recently released what could just as well be nominated in this years Top releases. 10-20's self-titled full length stretches musical boundaries with its multifaceted approach to textural electronics. Seemingly out of no where, 10-20's latest is perhaps the best example of constructive and innovative electronics forging a unique path that few offer with such finesse. The featured "sA" yields beats and tormented bass with acidic overtones and malfunctioning machines into one fluid piece of dissected noise. Dusty rhythms intermingle in the foreground and the overall mood is set to stun. This self-titled masterpiece of darkened electrical disruptions is utterly fascinating and quite simply ear shattering."
Igloo Magazine