Release Notes
Label: Erased Tapes
Released: November 29th, 2024
Mastered By: Zino Mikorey
Artwork By: Studio Torsten Posselt
See Also: Interview with Ben Lukas Boysen
If You Like: Murcof, Kiasmos, Rival Consoles, Bersarin Quartett, and Christian Löffler
I’ve fallen into a long-ago-accepted pattern of not sharing albums that I think you must already know. Surely, the moment Alta Ripa came out this late fall on Erased Tapes,you were already all over it, right? Surely you grew up with music by Ben Lukas Boysen, who began his career as Hecq with releases on the Berlin-based Hymen Records (see my detailed write-ups on Night Falls and Steeltongued) and then mesmerised us with his cinematic soundscapes in Gravity (2003), Spells (2006), Mirage (2020), and Siren Songs (2021). So, yeah, after publishing this Interview with Ben Lukas Boysen [my fourth with this German composer, I think], I almost neglected to cover the album in detail. But I just kept playing it on repeat until it got under my skin and became a part of me, so not spending time with it and these words here is almost like not breathing – you struggle against it, but then you let go. Traversing Boysen’s musical career will take more than this article, so I will let you peruse the album reviews I’ve linked to above.
The title track captures some advanced synthesis paired with just the right touch of analogue post-production to fill your lungs with that air of nostalgia and sentimentality that will keep feeding that inexplicable and unjustified gnawing hunger for the past. Percussive elements and even four-to-the-floor rhythms elevate the album to the dance-floor-worthy, head-nodding experience, the likes of which Boysen’s contemporaries and label mates, like Rival Consoles and Kiasmos, have been exploring in recent years. But there is also a bit of edginess and even darkness in these tunes (like the deliciously growling bass of “Fama”) – that same aesthetic that’s been haunting Hecq, perhaps possessing and invading the sounds of Ben Lukas Boysen. Having kept these two projects separate for some time now, I feel like we are finally facing the inevitable morphing of the two on this album [even though I know that Hecq lives on].
The album’s title comes from the original Roman name of the town that Boysen grew up in, Altrip, where he lived until his early twenties. This formative period is central to the ideas behind this album, from Boysen’s parental ‘schooling’ in classical music to his sonic journeys through drum and bass, Aphex Twin, and Autechre — all of which changed his idea of what music could be.
Besides the digital and streaming editions, the album is available on a compact disc, black bio vinyl and a limited-edition translucent vinyl, all packaged in a mirror board sleeve. I could spend more time dissecting and peeling apart the album to highlight the intricate details and the overall grandiose feeling I’m left with when I blast it at full volume in my headphones and studio. Suffice it to say that with Alta Ripa,it feels like time is looping back upon itself, and Ben is returning to the roots of his early adventurous experimentation, but this time with a toolkit of experience in hand. The result is a collection of sophisticated, mature, and intelligent electronica, which will undoubtedly appeal to all of your senses, especially if you have grown up with him like me. Highly recommended!
