Review: Chris Korda - More Than Four [CHXIV05]

by Jack Law

The latest album from Chris Korda offers a compelling look at what happens to the beats when you wind away from the usual. ‘More Than Four’ LP, which is out now on Chapelle XIV, ditches the typical composition for a much more original take.

Korda has showcased a unique blend of electronic music and arts over the last three decades. In that time, she has become known for sporting sounds against the grain. A pioneer of the polymeter, there aren’t many making music in such a particular fashion. The Church of Euthanasia founder is as determined as ever and her latest album is made using Polymeter, an open-source software she has developed.

According to Korda, the generic four-on-the-floor beat is a “pleasure prison”. ‘More Than Four’ breaks through the bars with a more complex musical composition and the result can certainly be appreciated. Several time signatures are used simultaneously across the album, which is made up of a steady eleven tracks.

A range of flavours make up the sound. It ranges from the rave centred ‘Virtue Signal’ which opens the release with high energy, synth-led electro. Deeper techno follows up into ‘Ticking’, a rapid groover featuring dreamy chord sequence, opened and closed quite aptly with a ticking clock.

‘More Than Four’ into ‘Moonchego’ offers a more relaxing state of the euphoric, warming keys softening the sound and driving the pleasantries of electronica. Non-conventional rhythms continue to delight through the odd time tapping of percussion that dominates the track list.

Continuing deeper into the blend, ‘Shelter In Bass’ strips back a little further, championed by a playful dance across the keyboard and an eery atmospheric derived from a hypnotic synth line. ‘LCM’ offers the ode to drums, a structured sound of percussive exploration that features little else than a conjure of beats.

‘Charlie’s Big Break’ brings with it an exploration into classic sounds of dub, funk and soul. Experimental house music at its finest, crossing genres between minimalistic sounds of the electronic and the organics of instrument. ‘Ladidi’ continues the stripped back sounds, while ‘Kahelo’ and ‘Heard A Moon’ make it all about the melody.

As the listening draws to a close on the album, it becomes apparent how much the music is made to be listened as a whole. The winding down relaxant of ‘Interago’ continues into ‘Kasita Mondo’, an extension of its previous while ‘Planet Broke’ closes the album with an unusual experimentation into the synth laded sound. A shift of the uneasy, full of textures and a spoken element to send the message home.

The vinyl features eleven tracks and is available for purchase now, with the digital version providing three bonus tracks. Listen from start to finish for a musical journey defying the contemporary.

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