Lo-fi Electronic Duo Blanking Digs Up Analog Riches on Debut EP 'Spirit Minerals'

After unsuccessfully finding a band to play with in jazz school last year, Toronto-based guitarist Justin Orok decided to take matters into his own hands, eventually finding Ottawa musician Rory Hanchard through a Craigslist ad. Calling themselves Blanking, they've only met in person once, instead collaborating by emailing demos back-and-forth.

Their debut EP for Toronto-based label Daps Records, Spirit Minerals (out Dec. 16), combines Orok's spontaneous improvisations and Hanchard's drum machine programming. Over the course of four lo-fi, sometimes polarizing songs, the former finds multiple ways to orchestrate his electric guitar sounds, while the latter perforates his cinematic stretches of deconstructive loops with fervently-paced rhythms.

Describing the project as an "organic approach to making electronic music," Orok tells THUMP over email, "The final versions of the tracks were recorded in my friend's bedroom. It's not totally obvious, but most of the songs are just one guitar track and drum tracks… to play them requires a bit of acrobatics, and a few unconventional pedals."

Stream Spirit Minerals below and pre-order it here via Bandcamp.

Spirit Minerals Tracklist:

1. Nails
2. Splints
3. Notch
4. Spirit Minerals

Corinne Przybyslawski is on Twitter.