Kontakt by Kappa

Kappa returns in full force after his boundary-pushing opus Shinkansen with his most original and most atmospheric work yet. Combining utopian virtual-inspired electronica with ambient and drone music, Kappa creates multiple conceptually linked musical soundscapes that paint mental pictures of synthetic worlds ranging from the serene and pleasant to the uncanny and foreboding, flexing his artistic and musical capabilities.

The homely hiraeth of Albion Meditation. The heavenly trickles and arpeggios of Sea of Tranquility. The soothing alien bells of Castrovalva I. The hypnotic beat of Castrovalva II. The deep sea bliss of Mariana Trench. The solemn unceremonious funeral march of Epilogue (Requiem for Excess).

Neutopia. Neuphoria. The ethereal production of Kappa. The hypnagogic wonderland of Kontakt.

From the original digital release of Kontakt, 17 August 2018.

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"Down the waterfall and up again/I am free for the time being/You win some/The rest you lose/Don’t you come crying to me/You'll only start me off/I see you traversing the (closest facsimile of the) country/I, a ray of light/You, my prism/We lock eyes/Our hands reach out/We make kontakt."

<3

From the original digital release of Kontakt, 17 August 2018.

===

Even as a small child, I always feared what came after death. I was afraid of the nothingness that would engulf my body as my life slipped away from this world, or to be put better, the lack of nothingness. In another strand of our times, in the year 2075, decades later, as my once luscious hair receded, my bones brittled, and the life force I carried onto with clutched arms had begun leaking through my pale eyes, humanity unveiled its greatest achievement to date: An artificially intelligent android, equal to us in every way mentally, and even more perfected physically.

It was a technological masterpiece that would live alongside us in the near future as a paragon of ethos. I thought nothing of it at the time, just a conglomorate of code, led only by what we told it was 'right'. a few mundane months later, there was a knock upon my door. As I answered, a man in almost startlingly white apparel from head to toe greeted me and heartily shook my hand, asking to be invited in. I hesitatingly guided him through the barren scape of my home, adorned only with sparse shelves and libraries of books.

As we entered the den and sat upon our chairs, he offered me a deal. He wanted me to live with this android at their facilities, and teach it all I knew, for just one year. They had been all around the world, he exclaimed with an ecstatic burst of hand waving, and it was to be taught its ethic by all of those around the world, to be compiled, analyzed, and optimized into the perfection of morality that they saw. In exchange for this, he added, I would receive an experimental treatment they had been working on, effectively doubling the span of my life. I nearly broke that man's hand as I fervently accepted our deal.
The next day a cyber-tram arrived at my door with their company's logo adorning it. An odd design, I would say: A simple stylized drawing of a human eye, with the letter K emblazoned in the iris, swirling with all of the colors of the rainbow, pooling together. I entered inside and waited to arrive at their facilities. When I felt the vehicle shudder to a halt, I knew I was there. The halls of the building were even more blindingly pure white than the clothing from the man previous. I showed the company card that I had been provided to the man at the front desk, and he gave me directions to the living quarters of the machine.

The door to its room was surprisingly archaic for such a top-level company, a simple wooden piece similar to the architecture from the beginning of our century. I knocked politely a few times and awaited an answer from inside, only to be surprised as it opened on its own. Stepping inside, I noticed the dense foliage amongst the ground, tickling upon my exposed ankles in the man-made dirt below. At the end of the hall was a metal ladder leading down into the abyss. Hesitantly, I gripped onto the rails and began the descent for what felt for almost half of an hour. Reaching the bottom, I was greeted by nature once again, though this time it was beautifully well-kempt, with flowers of all species blooming.
My boots crunched along the firm, impeccably green grass below as I trodded along the landscape to find the subject I was here for. After making my way past a small pine forest amongst the huge landscape around me, and barely climbing the large hill found after, I stopped to rest at the top, and noticed so much beauty in the distance, almost unbelievable in scope for the size of the building I was supposedly in. A city of huge proportions, supposedly for all of the applicants. A shining body of water bobbed endlessly next to it, splashing against its old-fashioned pier. The city itself was nostalgic too, laden with the designs of the mid 20'th century, reminiscent of later port towns.

I entered the city and searched for where I would be staying. I was greeted by many other people working the same job I would be, almost terrifyingly happy from the outside. After only a couple of minutes I noticed the only building out of the ordinary; A temple, gated with what appeared to be traditional Japanese design. I ran my hands over the low-hanging arch, the carvings bringing me to tears at their immense beauty. I continued to drag my hand across the sides of the temple as I entered, gawking like a fool at the beautiful plants and structures littering the place, until I had passed this garden and reached the entryway to where I could meet the one I've been pursuing this whole time.
My body chilled as an unexplicable breeze shook my body in the temple. I shuddered, and a voice from nowhere asked me, "Oh dear, are you feeling well?"

My head swerved to meet the mysterious voice, and there it was in front of me. Cross legged, in a state of complete bliss and contemplation, the android. I assured it that I was fine, and asked what I would be doing to assist it over the next year. "Your job will be simple," it responded, "yet simultaneously, it will be one of the hardest experiences of your life."

"I require your participation in a meditation session, once per day. Our minds will align and I will be able to glean everything you see from this world. For the rest of the day, you may visit anywhere here, in Castrovalva, that you like."

"For today however, I just require that you get your rest. You've made a big decision in helping me become the best that I can, and I look forward to working with you."
Over the next span of the year, I did just that. I visited every nook and cranny of this small world I now lived in, and even after all of those days, I was struck backwards at the beauty of it all. Perhaps my favorite was my weekly dives through the lakes, waterfalls, and oceans surrounding the city, the pristine waters untouched by all but us lone souls.

My afternoons were filled with the mentioned meditation sessions. For two hours each day, I visited the android and sat nearby, letting loose my mind and becoming one with its. It was cathartic for me, dropping all of the weight upon my shoulders as this mechanical Atlas took it upon itself to hold, building up its bank with each visit.

However, on my last day, and last visit, there, I dropped my final burden and last thought upon it, "As you may have glazed upon through my skull, as all humans do, I fear the death that comes to me inevitably. Even after this experiment with you and the extension I have been given, I somehow fear the end even more."(edited)
"Unlike me, or anyone here, you fully know and understand what will happen when your functions end in this world, and I want to seek solace in your answer. Do you fear your eventual death as much as I do?"

For the first time in that year that I had saw, it lifted its head at this question, and gave me a loving smile, one that I could not have expected it would be able to make. "I do not fear my own death," He answered simply.

"For I know that the impact I will have will expand upon my own digital lifespan, and I see that as an essence of myself, carried across generations."

"Now sit with me. For our last day, I would like to share with you how I see the world in all its majesty, instead of drawing from yours. I hope to be able to show you the beauty of our own finite lives, both mine and yours."

He reached out his flawless, wire-exposed arm to me and looked through my eyes, into the soul I didn't even know I had. Without hesitation, I took his arm in mine, and we began our final session.

Hosting Experimental And Interesting Music.

est. Apr 2018.

Season 10

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