USOF
Shipping immediately
Wish You Were Nicer
by usof
heavyweight recycled paper j-cards
blue foil stamped + Pantone Orange 21C & Black 6C ink printed artwork
recycled plastic cassette shells + cases
duplicated at a carbon-neutral facility
edition of 125
The manifold artistic roles of Lisbon Portugal-based usof - producer, DJ, label-runner, visual artist - matches his multifaceted audio output. usof has been at the forefront of the accelerating expansion of "ambient" into an increasingly liminal space, twisting and morphing the genre origins of meditative and background music into unsettling, fantastically detailed compositions. ENXPL is proud to present πΎπππ πππ πΎπππ π΅ππππ, usof's latest album, which draws from 20th century composition, dub soundsystems, 1990s club/rave culture, cinematic sound design, post-cybernetic dreams, and the hauntological ache underlying much of 21st century discourse.
Between the exacting technicality and heady conceptual underpinnings of πΎπππ πππ πΎπππ π΅ππππ, usof also makes room for playfulness and humor. On ππ³π’π΅, electronic gurgles and croaks converse above synth pads which would not be out of place on cassettes with titles like "Dolphin Magic" or "The Fairy Ring" that litter dusty corners of thrift stores. The dub bass theatrics on the title track are inflated to an absurd degree. These excursions from more formal and contemplative ambiances demonstrate usof's fully-realized world building skills. While πΎπππ πππ πΎπππ π΅ππππ may seem brief at approximately 30 minutes, its breadth and depth invite many listenings.
"listening to yourself between kid and future point ideas,
that evolution that obsessive always me
lmaooo looking back on the passing of time, family, friends,
when it was already sometimes good but somehow
when you, us, them, we, where, were, you when we bridged
feeling already like you might be making what Iβm thinking" - SeΓ‘n Being
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usof (b. 1998, Almada, Portugal) is a musician, visual artist, DJ and event promoter transversally focused on ambient and immersive music.
His work dives into a vulnerable ephemerality of sounds in "amniotic suspension", materializing a space of fragility, collective reflection and shared anxiety. The landscape is built from sensitive improvisational exercises with electronic composition and manipulation of textures and atmospheres. Besides exploring the connections between music and other disciplines such as contemporary dance, visual art and cinema, he develops ideas on how music itself can be used to invent new concepts and sensations.
He is also the co-founder of Rotten \ Fresh, a label recognized as a reference of contemporary and experimental music, and also responsible for the netlabel surf, with an increasing roster of forward thinking producers from all over the world. usof has released singles, remixes and mixtapes on labels like Yunque, International Winners, enmossed, WET, nodisk, and Mizuha. With the Living Room collective, he promotes a series of mixtapes and monthly events in Lisbon, where they connect local and international artists and, lastly, hosts the program "for 0" at QuΓ’ntica Online-Radio station, dedicated to the outwards fringes of sound art.