Valentina Magaletti & upsammy

Organic mix of percussion and electronics by an idiosyncratic drummer and an investigative producer & DJ.

The collaboration between drummer Valentina Magaletti and DJ/producer upsammy is about movement, change, and variation. The two find each other in the sounds of acoustic and digital melodic percussion instruments. Their first joint album Seismo features a fascinating palette of sounds, from vocal fragments to disorienting rhythms and carefully constructed structures that can suddenly collapse.

Seismo was created from a commission by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and is built around recordings the duo made in the museum spaces. The Amsterdam-based DJ/producer upsammy has often worked with her own recordings of ambient sounds. Her tracks have been picked up by established DJs like Ben UFO and Four Tet, and she has performed at festivals like Dekmantel. Valentina Magaletti is known for her critical approach to drums, including on her solo album A Queer Anthology of Drums. The London-based percussionist is part of groups such as Moin and Vanishing Twin. She has collaborated with numerous musicians, including Mica Levi, Nicolas Jaar, and Thurston Moore.

‘This collaboration between the Amsterdam-based producer and the UK’s busiest drummer opens up dazzling worlds of percussive sound’ (The Quietus).