MoMa Ready - DEEP TRENCH PARADOX

September 30, 2020 - HAUS of ALTR

Resident tastemaker representing the City that Never Sleeps, Wyatt D. Stevens aka MoMA Ready is here with a fresh collection of sounds set to fill—or create—the void present in so much of existence lately. The cover art displays a solitary figure floating past a giant kaiju-esque eye, with stark white popular 90s era mecha anime-esque font displaying the text “DEEP TRENCH PARADOX.” (I spent too long trying to find the specific font to not mention it.)

The project opens with a low pulsating drone. Spurts of a future-traffic noise Doppler Effects itself back and forth behind waves of percussive intensity. ‘Ascending - Descending’ is a scene painted with the palate of dystopian retrofuturism, soft and cool like a rainy evening, but with a roughed up, gritty textured landscape. The edges smooth themselves out further in ‘Cold Blue 2,’ with gentle melodic half-notes teasing around a muted plucky bass. Underwater sentiments show themselves more clearly on this piece, with a space filled with subaqueous blips and bloops echoing throughout. It evokes that paradoxical feeling of calm that comes from feeling smaller than the world, smaller than the problems, smaller than the fear.

‘Light From Under Ft. AceMo’ sees Stevens in collaboration with fellow artist Adrain Mojica. It’s a cymbal-heavy downward spiral through increasingly cold waters. Delayed bass elements lay the foundation for high-contrast ice spike synths to shimmer, disappearing as fast as they appear. The main elements step back towards the finish, allowing a distorted set of chords to lead the journey ever further below. From the depths, an out of tune piano calls out; a lone riftia pachyptila soon joined by a multitude of other giant tube worms. A sharp drum riff anchors the track on which various synth noises join, like ethereal deep-sea creatures creeping in and out of the light. ‘Inside - Outside’ plays with contrast in this way, with moments of cacophony balanced by moments of near silence. 

From here, ‘A Portal To the Nether’ opens, increasing the speed and focus while traveling below the Below. A clean drum break leads the way as particles of light begin to stretch, distorted by the edges of the opening. The bass keeps up as well, but the main melodic sample is caught between the two planes, crackling like electricity and split into lower and higher frequency halves. The fracturing bleeds into ‘The Dark Space,’ as sonic information is ripped apart. Frayed strands of a forgotten sample stretch out, with shard-like higher frequencies floating above distorted cavernous bass tones. Cymbals once again take center stage of the percussive elements, with multiple hi-hats forming polyrhythms with the ride and crash cymbals. Hopeful tones emerge part-way through the mix, science synths from decades past leading the expedition through the void. 

Stevens has compiled a quick but consequential journey into the depths. The pieces take on blue and purple hues so deep they become black, filling the space with cold darkness and allowing for bright bursts of light from a collection of percussive, synth, and sampled elements. It’s a practice in contrast, and of the pushing forward through the pressure to get through to the beyond. 🍍