Photographers: © Alexis Rodriguez Cancino, Souleymane Said, Boris Camaca, Rebekka Deubner
In conjunction with the art magazine PROVENCE
Words: Marc Jauss

Stage elements made of aluminum, unfolded black boxes, and tangled intertwined cables that seem to have neither a beginning nor an end, mixed with diffused light and overdriven sounds in the room. Suddenly it becomes quiet. The soundcheck is complete. A glimpse behind the scenes reveals an authentic parallel world that stands in strong contrast to the perfectly staged show. The scene as a whole appears unfinished, chaotic, and somehow improvised. Ultimately, everything is aimed at a specific moment that fades away after a certain time and only exists in our thoughts or in recordings in the form of sound, videos or images. It has been a while since I first heard of the Parisian record label Latency. If I remember correctly, I learned of the label through the hypnotic rhythms of North American musician and sound artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe on the single Kulthan, which was released sometime in 2017. As a sonic-enthusiast and operator of a music platform, I was naturally drawn to it and continue to follow the curation work of the owners Sidney Gerard and Souleymane Said with great enthusiasm. Since the label's introduction, an elaborate catalog of artists such as singer and DJ Laurel Halo, virtuoso percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, and pop polymath Lafawndah has emerged.
In the past year, Latency made waves with a series of exceptional concerts, each of which took full advantage of the unique acoustic properties of their respective venues. Attendees were treated to impressive performances in the magnificent Flamboyant and Baroque-style church of Saint-Merry or the ancient Bourse de Commerce, originally used as a commodity exchange, in Paris.

st merry church, paris - laurel halo

paris - le malentendu music video - lafawndah, jonathan vinel & caroline poggi 

le bal, paris - eli keszler 

kunsthal charlottenborg, copenhagen – ctm, mads frøslev and agnete h. petri

bourse de commerce-pinault collection, paris - price, joseph schiano di lombo, tobias koch, modulaw 

st merry church, paris - eliza mccarthy plays mica levi 

contact, tokyo - latency showcase with ena, ypy, sidney & suli

gaîté lyrique, paris - tim hecker & mfo 

marian goodman gallery / louise lawler, paris - tlf trio 

Latency is a Paris-based record label run by Sidney Gerard and Souleymane Said. It explores a broad musical spectrum in dialogue with contemporary art and performances. Latency has released physical and digital editions of various works by artists such as Laurel Halo, virtuoso percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, TLF Trio and Lafawndah.

paparazzi: noah heupel
the playlist is part of a mix series curated by fromheretillnow for the swiss art magazine PROVENCE

Sticks and stones may break your bones but mutually remembered songs will brighten the deepest dark - This playlist celebrates over a decade of emotional and creative support. Amanda Weimer (Mandy) and Moritz Haas (Europa) are celebrating what started off as a teenage romance and turned into 13 years of friendship.

images: © rob kulisek
text: david lieske, rob kulisek
music: misanthrope ca

East Hampton, NY, 2016

Through a fateful encounter in the Fall of 2015, a special opportunity presented itself to us:
The offer was to rent a worn-out mansion that was located near the famous town of Amagansett in East Hampton during the month of January 2016 for very little money.
All we would have to do was to make the estate, which was up for sale and subsequent demolition, accessible to potential buyers.
The Chance to explore the seasonal dark-side of the southern shores of Long Island which are internationally known for their sun-drenched beaches and cheerful summer hideouts to Manhattan’s Elite triggered pleasurably dark fantasies of icy solitude and isolation in both of us.
Amagansett in the depth of winter seemed like an almost too ideal equivalent of frost-bearing, Scandinavian coastal towns that we had read about in the context of the development of a particularly atmospheric and grim guitar sound, known as Black-Metal.
Two years before we had started our first efforts to create an American version of this abysmal ambience, that we both adored for many years, out of the bedroom of a small house in East Hollywood.
The thrilling present promise of having the chance to chase the unholy reminisces of famous Hamptons’ She-tragedies such as the mystery-shrouded deaths of glamorous women like Edith Metzger or Edie Bouvier Beale invigorated our fantasies to continue what we had started in California.
Little did we know that only a few days after our arrival at this disheartened wooden complex we would find ourselves trapped in a polar vortex of historic dimensions.
Imprisoned by an unreal site of frozen remains to a highly developed civilisation that seemed to have vanished entirely in view of these inhumane conditions we began a routine of expedition like walks and daily experimentations with musical equipment.
The ever-present odour of black mould from the basement bathrooms found itself easily up into the attic, where we had set up a provisional studio.
This special room was octagon shaped and seemed suitable as the hidden chapel to a demonic death cult. Small-sized triple bunk beads to each side intensified a ghostly presence of past days children’s laughter and terrible accidents that must have happened on the narrow and more than steep stairs leading up to this bedroom of evil dreams.

Misanthrope ca - lp, 2016

event: cardinal & nun, back 2 back massacre, garage 29
images: © marc jauss