Derek Rogers - A Physical Ascention - Cassette

The ceaselessly expanding mind of Texas native Derek Rogers strives to reconcile the limitations of traditional instrumentation by systematically extracting their elemental voices from their natural form on his latest cassette and HOLODECK debut, A Physical Ascension. Rogers' prolific output coupled with his dynamic take on minimalism and ambience has lead to appearances on a host of celebrated underground labels and unanimous respect among experimental audiences and musicians alike. Utilizing modern technology to broaden the scope of his phonic craftsmanship, Rogers dismantles and reconstructs acoustic sound waves at their base level as a compositional motif, creating a boundless palate of complex textures and arrangement.

Out of his home studio, Rogers forges an operative procedure of trial and evolution based on the foundational reinterpretation of rudimentary sound design as a means to originate an ultimately new whole. Making use of piano, guitar, organ, and many other conventional instruments, Derek applies a technique known as granular synthesis to divide these tones into fragments spanning only a few microseconds. These nanoscale grains of audio are combined and layered at varying speeds and frequencies to produce a vast spectrum of soundscapes that have little to no resemblance to their sources' likeness. Rogers' approach embodies an authentic execution of musical experimentation and traverses a domain encompassing both the acoustic and the electronic along with the palpable and the synthetic. A Physical Ascension is the result of countless hours laboring over new methods of expression, wholly embracing the juxtaposition of chaos within calculation and perfecting the art of movement without sterility. The dense droning chord swells of the album's opening title-track unfold amidst an evolving tonal modulation that effectively disassembles the cognitive process, eventually yielding to a gentle melancholy carried by the underlying piano melody. The emergence of clarity from the abstract is a theme echoed throughout the entirety of the album as Rogers seamlessly fluctuates from the abrasive to the serene and the alien to the familiar. Transcending his exemplary studio engineering, Rogers has further honed his own compelling brand of elegant articulation that reaches across all eight of A Physical Ascension's gorgeous electro-acoustic pieces.

As Derek Rogers' compositional intuition continues to converge with his auditory-tools, the resulting summation of seemingly disparate parts gives rise to the assemblage of a completely distinct entity all together. Vivid and collectively bound, Rogers has eloquently amassed a cohesive and profound selection of vignettes, effectively turning lead into instrumental gold.