kangding ray: cory arcane

Cory Arcane found her comfort zone in a constant state of crisis, and her liberation through love, sensuality, and high-speed internet access. As some might recall, she used to struggle with her own decay, navigating an intricate web of bureaucracy, endless social-media scrolling, 24-hour news channel feeds, and marketed strategies of seduction. Her intense and continuous obsession for surf, breakdancing, and cat videos might have saved her from a silent decline, but it would be her first attempts at integrating a professional ballet company that provided the initial spark. Her unorthodox dance movements were often considered shocking, transgressive, and barely legal; and even though some recognized her genuine talent, it was clear she would never make it into this structure. This is when she started her slow drift toward the outer limits of society, in search of the way to achieve the conditions for absolute freedom. Her emancipation was surely marked by different forms of excess: the inappropriate use of fireworks, the consumption of large quantities of alcohol and controlled substances, as well as the occasional blasts of kitchen appliances. She bypassed the gender war and became an expert in advertising sabotage. Soon Cory would give academic courses on the true liberation of the mind, or, in her own words, the apotheosis of senses. Lately, she could be seen squatting in the outskirts of different giant metropolises, embracing the mayhem, contemplating the crumbling of a system. The sound of the city, mixed with the music on her headphones, would weave complex rhythms and futuristic textures into a beautifully colored, pixelated surface. Looking out onto this fabulous chaos, she smiled. Cory Arcane is Kangding Ray's fifth album, following four previous full-lengths on Raster-Noton.