Audiopile Review: Another newsletter, another Alva Noto album. You should know the score by now. But if you’ve just started subscribing or whatnot, we’ll get you up to speed. In the early 2000s, Alva Noto (aka German sound artist Carsten Nicolai) was one of the great glitch originators. He released albums for key labels like Mille Plateaux and ran the Raster Noton imprint. Nowadays, he’s perhaps best known for his austerely beautiful collaborations with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. The ‘HYbr:ID’ series pulls together stylistic elements from all of Alva Noto’s previous work: pinprick microsound, machine-funk beats, cinematic ambiance… This series is probably the best entry point into the world of Alva Noto, and here’s its third volume. ‘HYbr:ID III’ is, as they say in Germany, “wirklich verdammt gut”. All the albums in this series have been absolute stunners, and this is no exception. It might even be the best of the bunch. If you got the first two, this is essential. If you are, in fact, a newbie, this is as good a place to start as any.

Double LP version. For an aesthetic of (dis)obedience. The impressions Richard Siegal and his company Ballet of Difference gathered on a trip to Japan in September 2022 now find their way into a full-length dance evening. Siegal and his team had set off for Tokyo to learn the practice of Shuudan Koudou, also known as “Japanese Precision Walking”. The strictly synchronized group choreographies are astonishing in their radical stringency and have become a secret YouTube hit, not least because of their peculiar subtle humor. Siegal recognizes in the extreme disciplining of the bodies an analogy to the training practice of classical ballet. In the mutual exchange of these movement cultures, questions are raised about individual and collective thinking, about personal decision-making power and social responsibility. For this extraordinary project, Richard Siegal has invited a special guest: Nazareth Panadero, long-time companion of Pina Bausch, who has long since become an icon of Wuppertal dance theatre and will be on stage with the BoD ensemble. On the other hand, Hybrid III is inspired by Noh Play — Japanese performances and deals with the refusal of rules musically. Hybrid III continues the two previous albums and weaves both rhythmic and beatless musical pieces into a holistic work.