Richard Devine

Richard Devine is responsible for some of the most complex, technologically advanced music to come out of the techno and IDM scenes. Influenced by musique concrète and industrial as well as electro and hip-hop, his sonic constructions are often dense and overwhelming, ranging from the hallucinatory cinematic soundscapes of 2001's Aleamapper to the breakcore-esque organized chaos of 2005's Cautella. While known throughout the 2000s for pushing the limits of digital signal processing, composing, and performing using several laptops simultaneously, Devine spent much of the 2010s building an overwhelmingly large modular synthesizer system, which he used to create the 2018 full-length Sort\Lave. In addition to his own compositions, the Atlanta-based producer has established a highly successful career as a sound designer, having developed sound patches for synthesizers and music-making software from companies such as Moog, Korg, and Native Instruments, as well as extensive work for film, commercials, and consumer products. Initially trained in classical piano and guitar, Devine began making electronic music using both computers and analog synthesizers when he was in high school. His earliest release, 1995's Sculpt, was a triple 12" of hard-hitting techno tracks. The following year, he released Polymorphic EP on Six Sixty Six Limited, an imprint of the influential Midwest hardcore techno label Drop Bass Network. Somewhat surprisingly (in retrospect), Devine also shared a split 12" EP with deep house act Wamdue Kids that year. Devine's sound changed drastically with the release of Richard Coleman Devine, an EP of angular, distorted electro-techno that appeared on Miami's Schematic label in 1997. Following remixes for East Flatbush Project and Phoenecia, Devine's profile increased when his remix of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" appeared on the Warp 10+3 Remixes compilation in 1999. A year later, Lipswitch was co-released by Warp and Schematic. Devine continued to appear on Schematic compilations and to release albums such as 2001's musique concrète-inspired Aleamapper and 2003's more rhythmic Asect:Dsect. Devine's most intense recording to date, Cautella, appeared on the prolific but short-lived Canadian label Sublight in 2005, followed by the Sigstop EP. Divine Edgar, a split EP with Jimmy Edgar, was issued by Detroit Underground in 2008. Four years later, the label released Devine's full-length Risp. Following several years of sound design work and developing his synth setup, Devine returned in 2018 with Sort\Lave, his first album to be entirely composed on modular synthesizers. The full-length appeared on Timesig, an imprint run by fellow modular enthusiast Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares).
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