RITA, THE - Bandaged Invisibility

"With his flagship project, The Rita, Sam McKinlay has explored and distilled into sound various permutations of obsession and vice for over five lustrums. Though his musical approach has remained more or less consistent, the subject matter inspiring McKinlay's work has periodically shifted through the years, mapping out the constellation of non-musical obsessions that occupy his mind: sharks, drag racing, Giallo cinema, skateboarding, snorkeling, nylons, ballet, and females to name just a few. Frequently, McKinlay utilizes field recordings and other sounds sourced from the objects of interest before encrypting them in an opaque shell of noise. For The Rita, the abstraction and minimalism of the female form has played a major role in the fetishized development of his source sounds and harsh sound manipulations. Eye shadow and eyebrow pencil pushed to raccoon-like limits and nylon stockings have been used repeatedly in past recordings to personally investigate via harsh sound the abstracted qualities of the aesthetics. For this completely new work utilizing aspects of the female as starting point, The Rita picks apart all leg and foot medical taping/bandaging source sounds by Gabi Losoncy. The various portrayals of the invisible woman in popular media and her choice to be wrapped in medical bandage to represent her otherwise invisible bodily form. The taping and bandaging are articulated and applied in such a way to envision the woman's form in a linear fashion, not unlike contour lines on a map. The predatory nature of her invisibility is tightly cloaked in bandage form. Crushingly beautiful, conceptual rich, and patent by a deep sense of emotive tension. Housed in a beautiful deluxe wooden box of seven inch size with laser engraving of original artwork by Sam McKinlay, two doble face black and white press on high-quality natural paper inserts and full colored letterpress postcard with soft touch lamination. Double cassette in a limited edition of 99, hand numbered copies; includes download code." - Urashima.