After a pause in operations, the mysterious patten is emerging – well, carefully shuffling – out of the shadows
The camera-shy producer remains principally known for 2011 LP GLAQJO XAACSSO – a pressure-cooked combination of groggy techno and pealing shoegaze that tilted from the sublime to…well, the more sublime. Aside from the odd offcut or sneak drop, he’s mostly spent the last year captaining his Kaleidoscope label, responsible for limited-circulation tape releases from the likes of Karen Gwyer, Sculpture and Orphan.
When Warp announced their forthcoming free Tate showcase, the press release hinted that patten had material for the vintage label on the way – and now full news has emerged about the producer’s connection to the label. patten’s first release for Warp will be EOLIAN INSTATE, a limited edition five-track EP. The record will arrive on picture disc 12″ in a run of 500 copies at the tail-end of the month.
We spoke to patten about the release, who revealed that an album for Warp is also in the works:
How did the connection with Warp come about?
Warp got in touch out of the blue some years ago. This was way back even before the last LP existed. That conversation continues.
What can we expect from the EP?
Various phenomena both organised and chaotic. It depends how you listen.
Does the release prefigure any new material?
An LP will follow at some point in 2014.
How has your material changed/developed in the two years since GLAQJO XAACSSO ?
Chronology. Development. An important thing to note is that when the last record came out, it had already been settled as recordings in that particular form just under a year before it was eventually released. Then when you think about how the pieces were borne out of sketching, performing live, then bringing findings back to the studio and so on before that, the picture of a clear chronology of change and development becomes fairly blurred and flexible – without defined beginnings and ends, without a distinct line moving from one point to another. A more accurate analogy might be likening it to a cloud of vectors, stretching out, folding back in, breaking, combining, mutating, trailing off – all of these. There are always hundreds of works in progress. Countless vectors.
The video for fidgety EP track ‘Aviary’ is below, and suggests patten hasn’t lost hold of what made GLAQJO XAACSSO such a beguiling, disorientating listen. We’d also advise patten’s blasted 2011 FACT mix.
Tracklisting:
1. Aviary
2. Towards Infinite Shores
3. oea/Catalogue
4. Obsidian Alms (mid-saccade)
5. Sixth Seven