139 – Orphx
Tracklist:
01. Ann Southam – Boat, River, Moon [Melbourne]
02. Sphare Sechs – Enceladus 01 [Malignant Records]
03. Visions + Phurpa – Ascendance [Cyclic Law]
04. Leila Abdul-Raul – Dark Early Hours of Morning [Malignant Antibody]
05. Radiosonde – No Solutions [Ground Fault]
06. Himukalt – I’m Afraid [Malignant Records]
07. Cut Hands – The Claw [Blackest Ever Black]
08. Nastika – Black Sun in the West [Horo]
09. Atom TM + Esplendor Geometrico – Estas Solo [Geometrik]
10. Synpascape – Uprising Confessions (Orphx Remix) [Ant-Zen]
11. Rhys Fulber – Right Hand of Reason (Phase Fatale Remix) [Sonic Groove]
12. Schwefelgelb – Reflex (An-i Remix) [N-Plex]
13. You Hung – The Truth Was Different [Downwards Records]
14. Overlook – Purr [The Stone Tapes]
15. Restive Plaggona – Pink Collar (SHXCXCHCXSH Remix) [Sacred Court]
16. Sam KDC – Gordian Knot [Auxillary]
17. ASC – Saturate [ARTS Gallery]
18. ASC – Gaussian Function [Modern Cathedrals]
19. Homva – Puthia [Homva]
20. SARIN – Repression (Privacy Remix) [BITE]
21. Orphx – Suspended Animation [KHIDI]
22. Catharsis – Step Through the Spaces [Zhark Recordings]
23. Katsunori Sawa – Roughneck [Weevil Neighbourhood]
24. Oscar Mulero – Espectro Rojo [Pole Group Recordings]
25. Teste – Depressive Technoid Slop [L.I.E.S. Records]
26. Unhuman + Surit – Precipitated Paranoia [Black Sun Records]
27. Hakai – Anxiety (Christina Sealey Remix) [Megastructure]
28. Kareem – Hinrich / Necropolis [Zhark Recordings]
29. Nastika – Black Sun in the East [Horo]
30. The Untouchables – Culture Clash [DNO Records]
31. HHY and The Macumbas – Ergot Glitter [House of Mythology]
32. Ireen Amnes – A Day More is a Day Less [Sonic Groove Experiments]
Orphx have been creating their unique fusion of rhythm and noise since the mid 90s, combining elements of techno with the experimental techniques and critical spirit of industrial music.
The project was founded in 1993 by Rich Oddie, Christina Sealey, and Aron West, who began creating improvised soundscapes and audio/visual performances inspired by early industrial music, grindcore, and power electronics.
Following cassette releases on their own Xcreteria label, West departed to focus on absurdist noise project
Tropism while Oddie and Sealey began to push Orphx in a more rhythmic direction.
Their distinctive sound used powerful layered rhythms, modulating soundscapes, and processed vocals and samples to explore themes of psychological conflict and social control.
By the late 90s, Orphx was drawing further inspiration from the more experimental fringes of techno, electro, and dub. Working closely with Germany’s Hands Productions label, the duo gained an international following as one of the pioneering acts within the European “rhythmic noise” scene.
From 1997 to 2008, studio recordings were primarily created by Rich Oddie, while Oddie and Sealey continued to collaborate on live performances across Europe and North America.
Oddie and Sealey have collaborated on both live performances and studio recordings over the past decade, further developing their fusion of techno and industrial music across a series of acclaimed releases on the Sonic Groove label and remix work for a wide variety of artists, including Front Line Assembly (Official Fan Page), NoMeansNo, Oscar Mulero (oficial), Perc, and Svreca.
Orphx have refined their sound across numerous releases and many changes in tools and techniques, moving from reel to reel tape machines and homemade instruments to software sequencing and processing, and then back again to hardware following Sealey’s adoption of modular synthesizers in 2008.
Oddie and Sealey are renowned for delivering improvised live performances that combine modular synth, drum machines, software, and live vocals.
They have toured throughout Europe, North America, Japan, and China, appearing at international festivals such as Berlin Atonal, Katharsis, Labyrinth, MUTEK Montréal, Rural, and Unsound, and regularly performing at techno temples such as Berghain / Panorama Bar, Tresor.Berlin (OFFICIAL), and KHIDI.
Their work has been featured in films and documentaries, including I Dream of Wires (2014) and Soundtrack for the Urban Decay (2015).
In recent years, they have been working on new audio-visual performances using infrasound and multi-channel speaker systems, working in collaboration with video artist Patrick Trudeau and McMaster University’s Institute for Music and the Mind.
Active collaborations and side projects include Orphx + JK Flesh (Justin K Broadrick), Eschaton (Orphx + Ancient Methods), Ontario Hospital (Rich Oddie + HUREN), and Oureboros (Rich Oddie + Aron West).
