#noah li

The Shanghai-based Eating Music has been releasing an eclectic array of dreamy g-funk, experimental beatscapes, instrumental hip-hop, alien exotica, vocal jazz, and paradise chill-out since their inception in 2018. But for their newest release, the label takes a turn into a world of fourth world crystals, new age futurisms, and leftfield rhythmic structures with Nothing Nil by Noah Li, otherwise known as Knopha. This is Li’s debut release and the three tracks presented here are as enigmatic as they are beautiful, taking in textures of environmental music, 90s rave, balearic downtempo, tropical minimalism, ambient house, future jazz, and dub and wrapping them around with morphing layers of spectral synthesis and atmospheres of interstellar ocean exotica. And accentuating the otherworldly power of the music is Kevin Blow’s artwork, featuring a cold metal bed frame sitting on a glossy floor of purple and framed by glowing vaporwave gradients. 

Knopha - Nothing Nil (Eating Music, 2019) “一 Yi” sets the scene with careening feedback drones and fourth-world bubbles background by clattering echo fx. Wavering pads billow in like a hallucinogenic fog while glassy sequences effervesce through crystalline oceans…the whole thing recalling the futuristic landscapes and computer-generated dreamworlds of Yoshio Ojima. Down below the surface, sub-bass pulsations flutter and flow, creating a sort of romantic dub walk surround by gemstone percolations and mirage atmospherics (and thus reminding me of Foodman’s Moriyama). The song proceeds according to an unknowable dream logic, with otherworldly orchestrations and enchanting melodic progressions obscured by alien sonics and fractal mutations. And at some point, radiant synthesizer solos lift the spirit towards a delirious climax…a moment of breathtaking jazz fusion, though as if floating underwater and abstracted into a fever dream.

Shards of glass splinter then reform at the start of “二 Er,” while double-time cymbal patterns are intercut by open hat sizzles. Balmy wavefronts wrap around the soul as piercing drones wobble through the air and eventually, a breakbeat glide emerges, with subtle acid bass squelches jacking romantically and ushering in a passage of seaside chill-out perfection. The rhythms then change up significantly as we move into a baggy house stomp wherein dreamwave arps surf on sunset colorations and deep purple electrohazes. Claps cut in between heady cymbal patterns and breaky snares induce head-nodding hypnosis as billowing currents of sickly synthesis caterwaul across the sky. The background is continually subsumed by angelic etherwaves…these harmonious and smeared out pad breaths that wash slowly across the spectrum while the fourth-world fractal glass from the intro fades in and out. And just when you think its over, Knopha pushes even further towards a cloudscape paradise by reducing the beat to a downtempo stutter, with kicks and toms cycling while sampled voices repeat in euphoric syncopation. These 90s post-rave atmospheres and Boards of Canada incantations continue intertwining as we move into an aquatic dreamscape of dramatic orchestration, with synthesized viols and cellos dancing through underwater kingdoms until Knopha brings it all back to the immersive world of fantasy house magic. 

The B-side is given over to “三 San”, which starts with ritualistic drumming and ethereal clouds of gas. A marimba locks into the ceremonial flow, bringing evocations of Midori Takada and Steve Reich, and acoustic guitars add exotic folk colorations to the kaleidoscopic web of balearic minimalism. Further idiophone layers enter and dance in counterpoint to the springtide marimba, though they are shrouded beneath layers of dark mist. And as with “二 Er,” a sharp transition changes the vibe dramatically, with the mallet patterns fading out and being replaced by plodding hand drum rhythms, sub-sonic bass pulsations, and heatwaves of swelling synthesis. The mix is colored through by sci-fi tropicalisms…these candy-colored runs and neon electrobubbles that remind me of A Vision of Panorama…and eventually, shakers and tambourines give further shape to the cerebral tom-tom groove. It’s a thunderous drum circle pounding through a sunset dreamworld, wherein ocean spray sound streaks grow in strength before vaporizing and interstellar sequences move through spectral phasing patterns. At some point everything disperse, leaving only bending siren screams and percolating acid bubbles, at which point we crash into an epic climax…a sort of polyrhythmic ceremony comprised of shakers, tambourines, shimmering cymbals, and smashed animal skin. The pounding physicality is supported by sequential syncopations and a drunken melodic haze, with nothing quite aligning correctly and thus creating a world of swooning mystery and futuristic new age psychedelia.