kangding ray is david letellier
born 1978 in france, he lives and works in berlin
he studied and graduated in architecture in rennes and berlin and works now in different fields : music, architecture, performances, installations.
David Letellier evolved as a guitarist and drummer in bands whose influences ranged from rock and pop to jazz, before moving on to electronic music.
discography :
“stabil” released in 2006 on raster-noton.
"automne fold" released in april 2008 on raster-noton.
the music of kangding ray is situated at the crossroads of « digitality » and sensitivity. In his compositions, melodies combine with machine sounds in a subtle and rythmic suite.
He skillfully integrates guitar loops, bass lines, residual noise, acoustic instruments and digital anomalies to create a textured soundscape.
This valuable musical openness is reflected in his particular way of merging beats and emotions into slowly evolving compositions.
His live performances are known for being intense moments of musical experimentations, while he samples voices, and mix layers of different instruments, including analog machines, laptops, midi pads and guitar. KR sometimes invites other musicians to join him on stage, for playing keyboard, guitar, or turning the knobs on a machine.
reviews extracts :
" It's bleak, it's dark, but it's also fragile and warm and expresses a lot of vulnerability (...) Amazing stuff, and another feather in the cap for raster-noton. "
mnmlssg
" ...Mich hat seit "Some Great Rewards", na, sagen wir, seit "Pretty Hate Machine" keine solche Platte so überzeugend in ihren klaustrophobischen Bann gelockt wie diese, und das ist ja alles wirklich sehr lange her. "
de bug
" How to follow up one of the albums of the year in 2006? Well, you could do it all over again in the same way and people probably wouldn't complain I'm sure. However, Kangding Ray has gone a little bit more out on a limb for us and produced another obvious album of the year contender. "
smallfish
" Kangding Ray's second release on Olaf Bender and Carsten Nicolai's venerable Raster-Noton imprint is a triumph in pop songs via sound art. "
othermusic
"...Prise de risque calculée de la part d'un label qui élargit son champ d'action comme d'un artiste qui affirme sa singularité, Automne Fold est, avant tout, un album superbement maîtrisé, de bout en bout, digne représentant d'une génération de l'electronica qui a autant grandi avec la pop qu'avec les déconstructions machines "
d-side
“ Stabil is a fantastic blend of intelligence and emotion, neither excessive in its activity nor tiresome in its sparsity. It slides beautifully through the mind and demands a second listening.”
louis goddard . cdtimes, uk
“Album of the week, clicky rhythms and pure tones form the basis but the strength of the piece comes from the overlaid elements of classic melody and analogue sounds that weave in and out of the mix. Quite simply an absolutely marvellous piece of work that should find a home in many collections.”
smallfish, uk
“ stabil, du français kangding ray, soit une électronique mélodique et contemplative à la prod dub redoutable. Les aigus sont tranchants et les sub-basses impriment des rythmes lents et lourds comme seul raster-noton sait les intensifier.”
trax magazine n°103, fr
“Melodic and mechanical, electronic and acoustic, the minimal, textured music of Kangding Ray is a riveting blend of crackling noise, sampled guitars, sensual rhythms and digital errors.”
montreal mirror, ca
“ kangding ray offers a fresh voice to possibilities interfacing acoustic instruments and electronics. Piano lines softly land on the surface, as simple melodies envelop each track and cloudbursts of intersecting microscopic frequencies surround one another »
Robin rimbaud . kultureflash, uk
“Stabil sounds like the work of a seasoned master, the double header of ‘nn/tracks’ and ‘interrompu court’ begins the album with a surprising combination of melodic accessibility and signature clicky minimalism and precise austerity.”
boomkat, uk
«A fin de cuentas, a pesar de las grandes dosis de belleza y melancolía que esconde, y aunque en algunos momentos casi se pueda cantar por encima, “Stabil” sigue siendo un producto Raster Noton. Y nobleza obliga.»
go mag, sp
Kangding Ray was invited by Ryuichi Sakamoto to participate with other raster-noton artists to the nam june paik memorial event at the basoin temple. tokyo, in november 2006.
He also produced a track ( xom ) for sakamoto’s “stop rokkasho” action ( www.stop-rokkasho.org ), and made a remix of the track “things will change” for modwheelmood.
The music of kangding ray has been used in different film and video projects, including the short film “U-5” from video artist Nicolas Lelièvre.
kangding ray's own words on automne fold :
“Described as a texture, Stabil was like a white glossy surface, a continuous flow of minimal beats and melodies, whereas Automne Fold is more like a black mat bumpy surface. It’s raw, dark and analogic, it has a certain rugosity, it’s also very emotional and personal in a way.
There’s a lot of recordings in this album: conventional instruments like guitars, double bass, violins, piano, but also some analog synths i had the chance to use and record in some studios and places i’ve been to while touring for Stabil.
I used voices in almost every track, but in different ways: cut, stretched, looped processed, or just natural, I treated voice like an instrument, a tool, so some tracks end up sounding like actual songs, but it’s just a result, there’s a sort of irony behind it, a position toward “songwriting” in an experimental musical environment.
The question of meaning is at the center of this album. Automne Fold is an instrumental electronic record, but it’s also an abstract political statement.”