t.e.s.o.: no. 3. obliate

t.e.s.o. are an electronic music duo based in Milan, formed in 2014 by Matteo Castiglioni and Jacopo Biffi. No.3. Obliate is a towering tour de force of sonic architecture and the pair's second album. If the contemporary Brutalist architecture of Le Corbusier and Alison and Peter Smithson had a soundtrack, this surely would be it. Their sound research is inspired by contemporary music, early 20th-century artistic ideas, jazz, and IDM, but with a deep interest in developing a personal vision about soundscapes, rhythms, and melodies. Born as a live act commissioned by the Milan Conservatory, the duo released their first track on FatCat Records, which was followed by their first self-produced album, Over a Neutral Landscape, and the 2015 Plato EP on Rxstnz Records. Alongside music production, the duo created a multimedia installation called neMachine in 2015 that investigates the geometric studies of Le Corbusier in parallel to the musical production of Erik Satie. Always looking for new sound architectures, the duo manipulate their self-programmed software and hardware machines to produce new sonic landscapes. No.3. Obliate is a no-holds-barred vision of their beguiling Brutalist sound design. A future of twisted concrete and rusted steel shot through with warmth and humanism.