Aucan

Originating from Brescia, Italy, Aucan operates as an experimental avant-garde endeavor whose reach extends past post-rock, ambient, IDM, and techno boundaries. Francesco D’Abbraccio, Dario Dassenno, and Giovanni Ferligna form the project’s core, having first assembled in 2005 out of a shared fascination with music that is both evocative and ethereal while fusing organic textures and electronic elements in the spirit of Squarepusher and Battles. By 2007 the three had gathered enough sonic experiments to prepare an initial public statement and therefore issued the demo Source:code. Their first proper album arrived the next year; the self-titled release appeared on AfricanTape Records and unexpectedly drew favorable notice from reviewers and listeners. That reaction prompted Aucan’s first substantial touring schedule, thirty concerts spread across leading European cities throughout 2009. After gaining footing on the alternative circuit, the group delivered the DNA EP in 2010. The record contained “Crisis,” soon regarded as the clearest distillation of their style because of its relentless pairing of sweltering dub bass with foreboding, frenzied noise rock, and the track quickly became a fixture of every live set. Black Rainbow, the second full-length album, surfaced in 2011. While rooted in earlier material, it revealed more intricate production values and a denser interweaving of rock and dubstep. Widespread praise followed, and the supporting tour strengthened the band’s audience through slots at Ferrara Sotto le Stelle and Eurosonic Festival. In 2012 a remix edition of Black Rainbow was issued, containing reinterpretations by English electronic noise artist Mick Harris and Will Brooks of experimental hip-hop troupe Dälek. The same year Aucan opened for Placebo and the Chemical Brothers. EP1 arrived in 2014 after collaboration with genre-schizophrenic producer Otto Von Schirach; its woozy, staggered hip-hop beats and dark techno textures marked a modest departure from prior work. Early recordings had centered on math rock laced with abrasive electro-punk, yet the ensemble’s palette gradually shifted toward magnetic, ethereal, and sweltering electronica, a direction fully realized on 2015’s Stelle Fisse (“Fixed Stars”). By then Aucan had enlarged its instrumental resources and begun constructing live performances around varied hardware and assorted synthesizers with minimal digital intervention. Reliance on drum machines, modular synths, and other analog electronic devices directly informed the atmosphere of the Stelle Fisse sessions, yielding an album suited equally to strobe-drenched club dancefloors, intimate rock venues, and open-air festivals. The record earned enthusiastic coverage across the U.K. and Europe.