Noumen

Noumen returns to Central Processing Unit after a six-year absence with Altum. This bumper record, the Ukrainian artist's fourth release for the Sheffield label and first since 2019 double-LPObscurium, serves to remind us all why Noumen's music has been lauded by the likes of Mixmag and Resident Advisor in the past.

𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧-𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢. Across well over an hour of music here we find Noumen repeatedly playing punchy mid-tempo beat work off of some more cerebral tuned synths. Altumkicks off with the epic 'Oion' - beginning in that Autechre/AFX mid-tempo zone, full of deep-sea bangs and whirrs, the track slowly builds to a final stretch of delay-drenched keys which set us free amidst the outer cosmos, almost Sun Ra-style.

Noumen's third album for Central Processing Unit is a pleasingly hefty double-LP which builds on the zany invention of acts like Modeselektor and Autechre to delightful effect.