Learning About Images by Listening to Music with XIN

https://learningbylistening.tumblr.com

We’re living through a psychedelic renaissance of sorts. Neoliberalism’s ability to ingest and regurgitate anything in a form submissive to its protocols, desires and motives is epitomised in Silicon Valley’s psychedelic impulse. Microdosing and mindfulness aid the maximising of productivity, efficiency and output—but the resurgence of interest in psychedelia (psytrance bubble aside) hasn’t quite punctured the sphere of cultural production.

In this session, we will listen to recent, Western musics that might be considered psychedelic, and try to imagine what untraversed territory lies ahead. We’ll consider the relevance and stakes of psychedelia at a time when a new age-y Western spirituality is seeping into the mainstream. What would a contemporary psychedelia look, sound and feel like? What ideologies might it hold affinities with?

xin is a Berlin-based artist, writer and musician. Their debut LP, MELTS INTO LOVE, was released by Subtext in 2019. Described as “a deliriously psychedelic record [that] slithers in and out of the brain with the visceral body horror of a David Cronenberg movie” (FACT), MELTS INTO LOVE warps, mangles and strangles rave tropes into something anew. The record is released solely via independent platforms, with all proceeds going to Eden Rainforestation Projects. Previously, they released their first solo EP, To Shock the Earth and Shake the Sky, and they also contributed to compilations on Genome 6.66mbp, Intruder Alert and AN BA.