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Inclusion Principle — Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
(Discus Music 9015DL, 2025, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-01-21

Needle at the Bottom of the Sea Cover art

We covered some earlier Inclusion Principle EPs in these pages, Needle at the Bottom of the Sea is the duo’s fourth EP of 2025, following The Call of a Crumbling World, Clarino Oscura, and Quantised Entanglement. They all form a prelude to the group’s planned full length CD release sometime in 2026. And of course Needle is unlike any of those EPs that preceded it, with different methodology, different instrumentation, and a very different result. This time out, Hervé Perez is credited with field recordings, electronics, beats, processing, shakuhachi, and alto and soprano saxes, while Martin Archer plays modular synthesizer, organ, iPad, bass recorder, alto, tenor and baritone saxes. The program consists of three lengthy improvised tracks coming in at around 37 minutes total. There’s plenty going on here, and really only the first couple minutes of opener “Cloud Hands” might be considered ‘quiet,’ with curious sounding field recordings and electronics holding the listener’s attention until some low-voltage rumbling begins to fill the air inside your headphones; by the time the piece reaches its near ten-minute conclusion, most of the instruments have introduced themselves, particularly the modular synth and electronics that undergird the remaining soundfield. “White Crane Spreads Its Wings” is essentially a continuation of the opener with multiple woodwind melodies aflight, not a bunch of honking and squonking, but genuinely beautiful melodies criss-crossing paths — for a while at least, until the latter half of the piece begins to reveal itself, a dark percussive cadence and electronics open the way for another round of saxophone melodies, perhaps a little harsher this time. The concluding piece, “Step Back Ride Tiger,” is the longest at well over fifteen minutes, though cut from a similar cloth as the others: Dueling saxes improvising, some low-end electronic thumping and curious found sounds all around. If one were thinking that Needle and the three previous EPs would be released on the upcoming full length CD, or in physical media form, they won’t — the upcoming CD release will be all new material to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary. These EPs will remain as they are — download-only, but definitely worthy of your full attention.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Martin Archer, Inclusion Principle, Hervé Perez

More info
http://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/needle-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea-9015dl-2025

 

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