Aleph-1

Aleph-1 is a project by Carsten Nicolai aka Alva Noto. Aside from his sound works under those pseudonyms, Aleph-1 is electronic music with an acoustic sound aesthetics that was especially developed for the IDEAL Recordings label. The concept of Aleph-1 derives from the theories of the mathematician Georg Cantor, who was teaching in Halle, Germany, a city, to which Nicolai is deeply connected with through his family.

The sound pieces of Aleph-1 deal with the idea of infinity in terms of structure and length. Without actual beginning or end, they fade in and out. The pieces have a very logically constructed nature of overlapping tracks, which seem to be never the same thus could be extended into infinity. The album consists of eight rhythmic circles, based upon acoustic material, at first sight very minimal but always carrying pulse and melody.