About

Hubris continues the exploration of relentless, driving rhythms heard on Ambarchi’s Sagittarian Domain (2012) and Quixotism (2014). Where those records looked to Krautrock and techno for their starting points, the sidelong opening track here begins from the perhaps unlikely inspirations of disco and new wave, drawing particularly from Ambarchi’s love of Wang Chung’s soundtrack to William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. Leaving behind the song-forms of these reference points, Ambarchi weaves a sustained and pulsating web of layered palm-muted guitars from which individual voices rise up and recede, eventually setting the stage for some lush guitar synth from Jim O’Rourke. Arnold Dreyblatt collaborator Konrad Sprenger contributes overtone-rich motorized guitar, pushing the piece into a satisfying intersection of shimmering minimalism and rhythmic drive that smoothly builds up until the entrance of Mark Fell’s electronic percussion in its final section.

After a short second part, in which Ambarchi, O’Rourke and crys cole pay tribute to the skewed harmonic sense of Albert Marcoeur with a track built from layered guitar figures and abstracted speech, the long final piece pushes the concept of the first side into darker and denser areas. Joined by electronics from Ricardo Villalobos and the twin drums of Will Guthrie and Joe Talia, the layered guitars of the first piece are transformed into a raw and tumbling fusion-funk groove that calls to mind early Weather Report or even the first Golden Palominos LP. As this stellar rhythm section rides a single repeated chord change into oblivion, a series of spectacular events emerge in the foreground: first, aleatoric synthesizer burbles from Keith Fullerton Whitman, then slashing skronk guitar from Arto Lindsay, until finally Ambarchi’s own fuzzed-out harmonics take center stage as the piece builds to an ecstatic frenzy. Few artists could hope to include such an incredible variety of collaborators on one record and still hope for it to have a unique identity, but Ambarchi manages to do just that, crafting three pieces that emerge directly out of his previous work while also pushing ahead into new dimensions. — (via Label)

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Hubris consists of two long pieces, "Hubris, Pt. 1" and "Hubris, Pt. 3," that flank a two-minute interlude, the palette cleansing "Hubris, Pt. 2." The first and last tracks employ the Steve Reich method of stasis via perpetual motion. "1," especially, seems to float in the hypnotic rhythm generated by layers of muted guitar and ringing harmonics. "3" uses the same rhythmic guitar layers as a starting point for fervent instrumental wilding—first from drummers Joe Talia and Will Guthrie and modular synth master Whitman, then from Lindsay and Ambarchi himself on guitar. "2" is an oddly evocative lullaby of bass guitar melodicism, with vocal fragments like a conversation overheard from another room. 

It's a testament to Ambarchi's arrangement skills that each contribution dovetails beautifully with Hubris's larger idea while still feeling individual. If it wasn't explained who did what where, even the most informed listener would have difficulty picking out some of the collaborative elements—that's how well they embed within Hubris as a whole. But what makes this record feel special is how naturally it moves to occupy a space between classical minimalism, jazz, rock and electronic music. There's an admirable level of refinement to Hubris, even as it also feels brilliantly alive and ever in the moment.  — (via Resident Advisor)

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- 10th Anniversary remastered edition
- Includes hi-res download code

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Label: Black Truffle
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 2016
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Krautrock, Minimal, Experimental

File under: Ambient / Experimental / IDM
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