Released on June 15 2020 by 60NICE, Procedural World – 2,008 Children is the latest release by Boston born, NYC-based producer and multimedia artist trngs.
The album is the inaugural release from the new independent New Jersey label started by Patis and JP del Mundo. In an interview about the release, they state their intention with 60NICE is to “[W]elcome any artist from any genre who catches our attention…whether it’s pop or experimental,” and, “curate music and visuals in a way that preserves their artists’ vision as well as their own,” all while keeping artists experience with the label a, “fun, humanizing experience”.
They have certainly started the label out with a bang – trngs’ latest album is a hard-hitting and attention-grabbing “maximalist” experience – the latest in a continuously growing body of complex and intriguing sonic work.
The first track’s title, “Real Data Set for Digitally Mapping Your Environment” suggestively frames and introduces Procedural World. The track is sweeping and dramatic, opening with a deep intense drone and digitized wails – before launching into hard-hitting bass kicks and metallic crashes.
Like other trngs releases, the album is a hi-def, high-intensity, high-speed, “pro-complexity” experience of whirling clicks, booms, whirls, crunches, and beeps crashing and smashing past the listener with whirlwind energy.
Throughout the album, sounds constantly fall in and out of vaguely familiar beat patterns and genre structures. But just as soon as something recognizable falls into a place it has already been shot back out into disorder. Attempts to make sense of the chaos will continue to fail you – an experience perhaps similar to the digital world and physical reality we inhabit. Moments of structure, understanding and meaning are momentary amongst an overwhelmingly endless stream of overstimulation and disarray.
A recurring theme in trngs’ work is in fact the idea of “randomness” – starting from his name. “TRNGS” is, in fact, a computer term which stands for true random number generator, meaning a device which generates random outcomes through a physical process, as opposed to the pseudo-random results of a digital algorithm.
This explains the “TRUE RANDOM” which appears on many of trngs profiles – hinting at some of the ideologies and perhaps methods behind the haptic and chaotic style of his body of work. However, the artitst’s work is certainly not completely random. There is clear intention behind the chaos.
Another aspect present throughout trngs’ work is the extremely hi-fi sound production of which Procedural World – 2,008 Children is no exception. Every sound is crisp to the utmost degree and placed just so in a stereo landscape. The album could play out in a luxury theatre as the high-budget soundscape of any 20th century sci-fi film – that is if the film was also a highly deconstructed and reconstructed artifact. Thanks to the expert mixing and mastering of Jeremy Cox, Procedural World delivers spatially with crystal clarity and impact.
In addition to its digital release, 60NICE has also printed a limited number of 180g colored vinyl including “iridescent reflective foil detailing on the jacket”, beautifully designed and illustrated by Sam Rolfes, the artist responsible for the album’s cover art and 60NICE’s stand-out visual identity.
A lot of collective time, energy and love has clearly gone into this release and created a beautiful album which lets trngs’ work shine. It’s an exciting first for 60NICE as well as a major addition to trngs’ growing body of work.
Last modified: July 16, 2020
