On 9th December Modern Obscure Music presents Cascades, the new album from Pedro Vian &
Mana, which premiered during their immersive live set at the most recent Sonar Festival in Barcelona.
Cascades was recorded over a three-day studio session in Turin during the winter months, which is
reflected in the musical narrative, as the eleven tracks flow gently like an icy river, filled with a mixture
of hazy melancholy, uncanny dream-states and euphoria.
Various recording techniques and instrumentation was utilised, including the Lyra-8 organismic
analogue synthesiser, which takes principles from living organisms to produce sounds resembling a
conversation between nature and technology. The result is a spellbinding ambient odyssey that
features a luminous synthesis of neo-classical strings and orchestral drones, together with strange
voices, and abstract passages designed to evoke Dante’s Inferno, which represent the soul’s journey.
Pedro Vian is a renowned Catalan artist who has released three solo albums (Beautiful Things You
Left Us For Memories, Pedro Vian and Ibillorca) and a collection of singles on his Modern Obscure
Music imprint – a multi-disciplinary platform based on deep listening and music research. The
‘PRSNT’ compilation, which Pedro curated in 2021 and featured Laurie Spiegel, Ryuichi Sakamoto,
and Visible Cloaks, received support from Pitchfork, Crack, Brooklyn Vegan, The Quietus, The
Wire and Metal. Pedro has been remixed by Inga Copeland and Pye Corner Audio, and has
recorded mixes for of Bleep, Self-Titled and Juno Daily.
As part of a new generation of Italian electronic music artists, Piedmont born composer and producer
Mana has released two full length albums (Seven Steps Behind and Asa Nisi Masa) on Kode 9's
Hyperdub imprint, plus an EP on Nicolas Jaar's Other People label under his Vaghe Stelle alias.
Earlier in his musical journey, Mana supported Laurent Garnier, James Holden and Skream across
the Torino club scene, and in 2011 teamed up with Italian friends Lorenzo Senni and A:RA to form
the experimental group One Circle.
Pedro Vian & Mana’s previous work as solo producers has pushed the limits of electronic music, and
together they’ve garnered critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, The Quietus, The Vinyl
Factory, Resident Advisor and more. They now join forces to traverse new sonic territories between
electronica, ambient, drone, and trance-inducing soundscapes.