New Music: Osheyack’s “Memory Hierarchy” Casts a Critical Eye on Technology

New Music, formerly Yin (音, “music”), is a weekly RADII column that looks at Chinese songs spanning hip hop to folk to modern experimental, and everything in between. Drop us a line if you have a suggestion.

One of the cornerstone artists from influential Shanghai-headquartered electronic label SVBKVLT, Osheyack, returns with a blistering new release, Memory Hierarchy.

The American producer is often credited with being one of the harder-hitting artists on the SVBKVLT roster, employing raw, powerful body music that seems to find its best setting on dancefloors and among flailing bodies.

Memory Hierarchy is another fantastic example of Osheyack’s interest in making music that embraces a variety of different mediums.

As referenced in text accompanying the release, from Alvin Li, the artwork is taken from visuals captured by Dupre and Osheyack from their stint together at renowned Polish music event Unsound Festival. The glum green shades and crosshair graphics combine for a particularly unsettling effect.

The EP is his third release on the label, after Fake/Fiction/Fraud and Empty Hell, while he’s also provided tracks for compilations such as Cache 01 and on SVBKVLT’s co-release with Ugandan label Hakuna Kulala, Slip A.

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As Osheyack tells us, “The title refers to the hierarchical order in which a computer accesses its memory.” The tracks on the album were initially written in 2019 when Osheyack was preparing for an audiovisual set with the late visual artist Adam Dupre at Unsound.

Memory Hierarchy will be released primarily as a three-track EP, while an extra, bonus track is included on the digital release.

Cover art by Adam Dupre

To celebrate the occasion, Osheyack teamed up with fellow Shanghai-based producer Nahash for a Crack Magazine mix comprised of almost 80 tracks.

Additionally, if you find yourself in Shanghai today (Friday, April 24), ALL is holding a launch party for the EP, while a mini-tour, which will see Osheyack hit OIL Club in Shenzhen and Axis in Chengdu, will kick off at the beginning of May. For more details on all of those shows, click here.