Bleep

Primitive Art arrives on Arcola with Crab Suite, a new EP that sets out to explore otherworldly territories through four apocalyptic-dub transmissions that share psychic space with the work of Shackleton, Basic Channel, M.E.S.H. and Raime.

With strong ties to Honest Jon's (Jim C. Nedd curated the brilliant “Guarapo! Forty Bangers from Barranquilla" compilation) and Italian club institution Club Adriatico (Matteo Pit oversees the art direction) anticipation for Primitive Art's return to wax has been bubbling away in underground circles ever since M.E.S.H. closed out his RA mix with Crab Suite end cut, Sequrity.

Having performed everywhere from Berghain to Corsica Studios alongside the Janus crew (M.E.S.H. Lotic, Rabit, Why Be +) and with their previous 12" arriving via Hundebiss, a label that's just as at home cutting Dracula Lewis and Aaron Dilloway LPs, as it is for chopped 'n' screwed bangers from Lil Ugly Mane. Primitive Art's Crab Suite fits Arcola perfectly, which since its relaunch in January 2018 has unleashed 12"s from artists such as Rian Treanor, Ethiopian Records, Jamal Moss, Nkisi, Basic Rhythm, 2814 and many more on the horizon, from both the present and the last decade.

Crab Suite documents a specific moment in time and space for the duo, the sound and symbolism it conveys carries the specificity of these coordinates. As a unifying element in Matteo Pit and Jim C. Nedd’s native environments, an estranging sea gives life to the crab under whose sign these four songs were born. Of it, they bear the coriaceous exoskeleton (rendered into thick, impenetrable soundscapes), the oblique yet unrelenting motion of the rhythmic patterns and timbres, and a certain confrontational, combative attitude displayed by the performed voice. A darker take on the "Problems" sound, this new release by Primitive Art leads listeners into stark territories, at the same time inviting them to find a meditative space within it. This duality results in a tension: while the music envisions a martial dystopia (influenced by gaming imagery), a romantic current flows upstream against the harsh conditions described. The double nature of the band lies at the core of the project as Matteo and Jim’s different backgrounds and identities share the stage as producer and performer, respectively. Equally, studio sessions and live act intermingle as the songs’ native sources, reproducing the twofold essence of the coldly artificial and the intimately vitalistic.