* The packaging of this vinyl LP contains five superimposed layers of paper that are cut and printed to reveal different sides of a cube as it rotates from one face to the next. Custom inner sleeve.
Combining spellbinding musical rituals, introspective lamentations, and otherworldly ambience, Passepartout Duo’s first full length album Vis-à-Vis is inspired by a spirited year of travels and encounters.
Making use of a portable set of instruments designed and built by the duo out of scrap wood and metal found on the streets of Geneva (in addition to keyboards, synths, and percussion), the group premiered the music during a month-long train journey from Switzerland to China.
The album contains two pieces that spring from material of the same origin, evolving, reshuffling and realigning through the extensive use of hocket techniques and metric modulations. Mirroring one another, the two included tracks fill each side of the LP without pause, conveying a patchwork of prismatic timbres underpinned by a tightly woven rhythmic fabric.
The album is produced by AnyOne, the Chinese art company and record label founded by Yannis Zhang and Yumo Wu. Created from multiple superimposed layers of cut and printed paper, the artwork of the album illustrates the concept of its musical counterpart. Each of the album’s layers can be playfully recombined to highlight new variations in both color and shape, continually revealing a different perspective of the object as it moves from one face to the next.
Vis-à-Vis was written and recorded in Geneva, Shanghai, and Beijing at the Embassy of Foreign Artists, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, and Semi-Underground Space.
