Walls

In 2009 Sam Willis and Alessio Natalizia first met after Allez-Allez, Willis’s outfit, supplied a remix for a track from Natalizia’s Banjo or Freakout. The two soon formed Walls and began shaping a reassuring sound that drew from the atmospheric wing of Krautrock and current strains of IDM in the manner of Boards of Canada and the Field, along with material issued by Morr Music and City Centre Offices. Willis and Natalizia posted the track “Burnt Sienna” online in October 2009, which quickly led to a deal with Cologne, Germany’s Kompakt imprint and the appearance of a self-titled album in 2010. Running only thirty minutes, the record still delivered a completely rewarding debut by blending throbbing trance-state IDM, gentle folktronica, and abrasive beatless passages.