Patten (band)

Biography

patten have been performing and releasing music on ultra-limited edition CDRs since 2006, whilst also running their imprint Kaleidoscope. Composing and performing prolifically, rare small-run patten recordings occasionally surfaced from the underground. Issue 283 of experimental music journal Wire magazine described the 2007 CDR 'There were Horizons' as "a world of exquisitely detailed microscopic, ordered purposeful harmony", while the "sonically nuanced, breathless, rugged" track 'Version (test mixxx)' appeared as music site Pitchfork's Best New Music in May 2009.

Following a series of increasingly intense live performances, billed alongside artists as varied as Thurston Moore, DJ Spooky, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Leafcutter John, Caribou, and JD Samson, the first official patten LP GLAQJO XAACSSO was released in September 2011 through boutique UK label, No Pain in Pop to widespread acclaim.

Over 2012 & 2013, patten set out to shed light on numerous other underground artists by releasing limited-run editions of their work via their imprint Kaleidoscope's LIMITED DUBS series. These releases including; Sculpture's 'Slime Code' (later reissued by Digitalis), the 'I've Been You Twice' EP – Karen Gwyer's debut release, Orphan's 'Retakes', the double album 'Cracked Lacquer/Vanadium' by Yearning Kru later to be noted as one of The Wire magazine's top electronica albums of 2013, and 'Guardian Petted' by ALAK whose second single, 'Ilial Clone' was named BBC Radio 1 Review's 'Most Loved Track' eight days after the EP was released.

In November 2013 patten were announced as having signed to Warp Records, releasing the EOLIAN INSTATE EP soon after in an edition of just 500 12" picture discs worldwide, with artwork by frequent visual collaborator Jane Eastlight. Weeks later, as part of the Late at Tate series in December 2013, patten performed a live audiovisual set in front of thousands at Tate Britain, for the Warp X Tate event.

February 2014 saw the release of the highly-anticipated first LP for Warp, entitled ESTOILE NAIANT. A few days before release, BBC Radio 3's Late Junction dedicated a show to patten's work, featuring a live session and interview. Touring extensively throughout the year, patten performed distinctive audiovisual shows across Europe, North America and Japan, reimagining material from EOLIAN INSTATE and ESTOILE NAIANT with a custom video system, electronics, live treated guitar and vocals.

In addition to the ESTOILE NAIANT LP, 2014 saw patten release a number of free EPs grouped under the title RE-EDITS. With RE-EDITS, heavy sampling and restructuring were used to create sprawling new textural compositions from existing music. Underpinned by dance floor rhythms, it has been stated that the 2014 RE-EDITS tracks were produced in such a way that if the EPs from that era are played on shuffle, they will produce an 'endless generative mix'. The source material, including Sade, Siouxie and the Banshees, Joy Division and numerous others varied widely in style and era in an open anachronistic way, much like the numbering system which seemed to follow a non-linear logic.

In early 2015, nearly a year after the release of EOLIAN INSTATE and ESTOILE NAIANT, social media and message board users began to note the presence of unusual hidden codes inscribed on the sleeve artwork of the two Warp releases. Further investigation proved these could be used to find bonus album content hidden online.

In the summer of 2014, messaging around the entity 555-5555 were shared for the first time from patten channels with a stark logotype and strong affecting graphical imagery. Later, the group organised a series of events held at the now defunct DIY venue Powerlunches in East London’s Dalston area using the title 555-5555. Recognisable as the default crypto-coded telephone number from popular culture in books and film, the number seemed a fitting name for these open and boundary crossing nights. In a specially prepped, extremely dark blacked out basement space with heavy smoke machine and a single video projection as lighting, both artists and audience were encouraged to take a kind of freedom increasingly missing from nightlife in London. These events provided temporary spaces without preconception, self-consciousness and predictability with vanguard electronics and club music played at volume in a space at the time known primarily for bands from the London punk and DIY scenes. 555-5555's 2014 clubnight lineups featured sets from artists such as Logos, Karen Gwyer, Slackk, SFV Acid, Visionist, Darkstar, Moiré, Appleblim, Ital Tek and Max Tundra. The message and feel of these events soon saw the venue become a hub for many promoters working with forms of club and electronic music.

In an interview with Justyna Wichowska for 160g magazine, D from patten described 555-5555 as ‘an open creative group’. Across late 2015 and early 2016, numerous design works were attributed to the group, which was noted to include members of patten, their longtime visual collaborator Jane Eastlight and others. In April 2015, a video titled 15909857 (the estimated number of vote-eligible yet unregistered UK citizens) was uploaded to the 555-5555 YouTube channel. Quoting statistics from the Electoral Commission’s 2014 research into voter participation, the video encouraged UK citizens to register to vote in the then upcoming General Election. In early 2016, commissioned for the Tron franchise, 555-5555 produced artwork for Giorgio Moroder's video game soundtrack to Tron run/R, released by Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Digital Music label in association with Disney.

The Kaleidoscope imprint continued with new releases and format experiments in 2015, including the inaugural Chrome Series release by visual and sound artist Benedict Drew and a split 12" (50/50 series) including ex-Egyptian Hip Hop songwriter and producer Aldous RH.

In collaboration with Hisham Akira Bharoocha, patten contributed to Doug Aitken's Station to Station project, recording a full EP of new music created from found sound and improvised percussion onsite at London’s Barbican Gallery – an iconic brutalist architectural experiment in the centre of London. Later the same summer, patten contributed a stark and disarming remix of Icelandic musician Bjork’s song Stonemilker from the album Vulnicura. The remix was featured on a single-sided limited edition 12" record housed in a die-cut sleeve with an etching on one side.

First seen publicly in Jane Eastlight's 2014 video for ESTOILE NAIANT's Winter strobing, the patten band member known simply as A was seen performing with the group for the first time at the Warp25 concert in Poland, where the band performed new music alongside Battles, Autechre, LFO and others. With a handful of rare immersive AV appearances over the winter, incredibly well-received performances at France’s Baleapop and Fields in Moscow hinted at the highly emotive nature of the new music to come from the project.

On 14 July 2016, the band released the mind-bending music video for new single Sonne, directed by Matilda Finn, and announced the upcoming release of Ψ (pronounced 'Psi'), their third album and second for Warp. The announcement included the launch of an immersive new band website and the 555-5555 Bleepstore with art direction by 555-5555 and illustration by Jane Eastlight. In a statement about the new music, A and D of patten said, "There were atmospheres, palettes and textures we were interested in looking at and distilling on Ψ - like the grinding city sounds of Industrial music, the bass weight of UK dance's Hardcore Continuum, the emotive drive of 80s Goth, the techy weirdness of current pop music like Rihanna, the sonics of modern club like Grime, Footwork and Techno. We wrote in a very open way, allowing these elements to naturally interact in what we were doing."

Albums

EPs

CDRs

Files

Cassettes