Ten years after their first collaborative work together, Carsten Nicolai and Ryoji Ikeda have joined forces once again.

On March 7 they will release a new album via Raster-Noton under the name cyclo., the first since their self-titled debut of 2001. Entitled ID, it will be available on CD with a limited edition 12″ vinyl companion, and will be followed by a print publication extensively showcasing the visual side of the project.

ID finds Nicolai and Ikeda reinventing the relationship between image and sound production. For the past decade the duo have been building up a database of sounds composed to produce visual responses when analysed in real time via stereo image monitoring equipment. A press release (sort of) explains: “Phase and amplitude of stereo signals can be illustrated graphically: the audio elements are constructed through the minute editing of frequencies (often beyond the physical range of human hearing) and selected by the artists for their visual characteristics when analysed. Through processes of composition, editing and experiment, cyclo. is amassing an ‘infinity index’ of sound fragments.” Put simply, in cyclo.’s work visuals dictate sounds, rather than the other way around.

ID has deliberately not been mastered, in order to retain the waveforms as originally visualised. For this reason, listeners are instructed not to listen on a compressed format such as mp3.

Carsten Nicolai (pictured above) will be performing with Ryuichi Sakamoto as part of the Short Circuit festival’s Raster-Noton special on May 11 at London’s Roundhouse, along with Atom™, Mark Fell, Byetone, Anne James Chaton and Grischa Lichtenberger.

Tracklist:
CD
id#00
id#01
id#02
id#03
id#04
id#05
id#06
id#07
id#08
id#09
id#10
id#11

12″ vinyl
id#03
id#05
id#06
id#09