Inclusion Principle

Inclusion Principle – The Call of A Crumbling World (Discus 2025) 

Inclusion Principle – Clarino Oscura (Discus 2025) 

By Nick Ostrum

A few years ago, I got turned on to Martin Archer’s Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere, which is a spaced-out prog band that somehow stands out from the masses, who trod similar terrain. Still, I was not sure what, exactly, made them stand out, until I heard Inclusion Principle.

Inclusion Principle is Archer’s pared down avant-electronica project. Actually, it is pared down to a bare two: Martin Archer on modular synth, shortwaves and clarinet and Hervé Perez on laptop (including field recordings), shakuhachi, and sound design. Then again, maybe this can be considered a core project, as it has been running for twenty years now.

Even though Perez himself is not a member of the OUA, the music on the two EP’s reviewed here, The Call of a Crumbling Worldand Clarino Oscura , is the filament that makes that project so distinctive. Archer tends toward his wide-beam reed work, spitting out heavy, round, and thick tones that spin into repeating melodies. His synth contributions often follow a similar trajectory, though with heavy distortion, adornments, and decay. Meanwhile, Perez and, I assume, Archer lay backbeats that range from crackly drum ‘n bass to Mos Eisley cantina space ambience to sound collaging, replete with bird calls. Through it all, however, that slightly askew, sweltry cosmic fusion that underpins many of Archer’s other projects, especially OUA, shines through here.

The benefit of working in a smaller group is that the musicians can focus on space in the round rather than one or another end of orchestral sound. After the jaunty Romanic Tangential of The Call of a Crumbling World – a section of the single track that composes this album – Archer and Perez offer the quiet storm of 2D Moonrise. On this one, the fine edges and shimmers of the electronic work really shine through. The infrequent bass beats surprise amidst the foggy electrical storm. This movement throbs and sizzles and mesmerizes. Clarino Oscura unfolds with similar elements, but on a different trajectory. It begins with ping-ponging beeps and smeared electronic noises before a keyboard melody breaks through. It sounds like morse code messages fighting through a variety of other transmissions only partially realized. It reaches its flow in rush of dancehall beats and various glitchy elements that awaken the listener from complacent daydreaming. Shakuhachi and clarinet interpolate scraps of melodies throughout, adding a slanted, eerie dimension to the otherwise progressive back beats. But this has much more of an electro-dance flow, making it most akin to Geometry Jungle from The Call of a Crumbling World . Yet, despite the backbone Perez lays, Clarino Oscura unfolds in multiple directions. Tendrils grow and are abandoned just as quickly. The beats stop for long intervals to open space for the finer tweaks and chirps, drawing off the sweet spot of modern experimental music.

If the world is indeed crumbling, as one title suggests, these albums witness it walking the fine line between opium haze dreaming and imagining a way forward that is not quite so apocalyptic as the other steam-punkt techno-futurists may have it.

The Call of a Crumbling World and Clarino Oscura are available as downloads on Bandcamp: