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Barker - Stochastic Drift [LP]

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thumbass Grand Master

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New Barker album out April 4th 2025!

Stochastic Drift | Barker

Thrilled to announce Barker's new album Stochastic Drift!


Following 2023’s Unfixed EP and his first full-length release since his 2019 debut album Utility, Stochastic Drift builds on Barker’s singular process to capture life’s chaos and reflect on just how much has changed. If his previous records showcased the artist “using ambient materials to remake techno” (Pitchfork), Stochastic Drift pushes Barker’s approach even further into harmonic chaos and dreamy freeform float.

Utility, the fullest expression of the beatless techno experimentation Barker excavated on his cult classic Debiasing EP, arrived to critical fanfare from The Quietus, DJ Mag, Resident Advisor, and Mixmag (who named it their Album Of The Year). The years since the release of Utility have been marked by intense unpredictability: Barker’s own shifting attitudes towards production, moments of professional transition and, not least, a global pandemic, necessitated somewhat of a reinvention.

Stochastic Drift sees Barker creating tracks with a fresh deftness and appreciation for the unexpected. “I’d been working with an approach that was quite deliberate and goal-oriented before, but I realised this wasn’t so helpful in the context of uncertainty. Being suddenly unemployed and stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time, with one disruption after another, it was like the target kept moving and I didn’t know what to aim at.” Barker reflects. “I noticed this unpredictability starting to creep into what I was making, and tracks were ending up a long way from the intentions they started with. So the challenge for this record was to try to embrace that process, to let go of expectations.” The serotonin-spiking lead single “Reframing,” titled after psychological technique for reinterpreting a situation in a positive way, unfolds like a brittle reimagining of Sasha’s eternal prog trance standard “Xpander” until it begins to drift through uncharted territory.

Throughout Stochastic Drift, Barker dives deeper into the world of mechanical instrumentation. Barker explains: “My interest in mechanical instruments is not to replace a human performer, but to explore the tool in a different way, maybe dehumanize it a little bit and look for the potential outside of what humans have already perfected.” Addressing anxiety about the influence of automation in music making head on, Barker emphasises that, regardless of the technology implemented and how this might enable the artist, machines of all sorts, be they robots, synths or instruments, are simply tools. It’s the creative act that remains resolutely human.

“I wanted to explore the link between my internal and external realities, between the chaos of the time and how that was manifesting in my music and ideas,” Barker says of Stochastic Drift. “It’s a transition between lots of shifting realities, describing a process in a window of time that was full of change.” As though finding comfort in unpredictability, the artist pieces together a new sound and in so doing finds a salve for uncertainty. 
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dr lopez Grand Master

dr lopez

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The single on Spotify today sounded nice 

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  On 11/24/2015 at 12:29 PM, Salvatorin said:

I feel there is a baobab tree growing out of my head, its leaves stretch up to the heavens

  

 

 

dr lopez Grand Master

dr lopez

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i buy this!!!! i buy this now!!

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  On 11/24/2015 at 12:29 PM, Salvatorin said:

I feel there is a baobab tree growing out of my head, its leaves stretch up to the heavens

  

 

 

d-a-m-o Grand Master

d-a-m-o

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  On 2/3/2025 at 9:46 PM, Nil said:

Grabbed a copy as soon as I got the BC alert.

I think I discovered his music thanks to you Nil ! Just bought the LP and EP.

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Nil Veteran

Nil

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Debiasing is my absolute favorite of his, but the rest is excellent nevertheless. 

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beerwolf Grand Master

beerwolf

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  On 2/5/2025 at 12:09 AM, toaoaoad said:

Not quite as blown away by this guy as some of you, but Hedonic Treadmill is a classic. Genuinely deeply moving :catcry:

I know what you mean, I find him a very interesting artist to listen to, but also don't go mad over it. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
aencre Mentor

aencre

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  On 2/20/2025 at 5:01 PM, d-a-m-o said:

https://firstfloor.substack.com/p/in-a-volatile-world-barker-is-trying

 

Good read, thanks. A Bendik Giske collab sounds like a great match!

 

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