In The Age Of Data

Move 78’s new album, “In The Age Of Data”, is an expansive, intricately detailed and often psychedelic exploration of the intersection of jazz, hip-hop, and experimental audio collage. The Berlin-based collective’s fifth full-length release in five years distorts and reimagines their signature sound into a 37-minute dreamlike sequence of live improvisation, granular synthesis, and layered composition.

Inspired by Christoph Grünberger’s book about embracing algorithms in Art & Design, the album explores how technology can expand creativity rather than diminish it. This theme runs throughout, from the opening suite "Dusty But Digital"—featuring a collage of over 75 voices, including MF DOOM and Joan Mitchell—to the swirling vocals of Monica Mussungo on the title track, set against heavy mechanised sub-bass.

Field recordings, warped samples, and intricate editing blur the line between reality and imagination. Whether it’s children’s games merging with drums on "Don’t Become What You Hate", or the expansive percussion and distortion of "Quantum Listening", the album asks how we can truly listen and create in an era of information overload.

To make the album, the band recorded extended improvisations at their rehearsal space, Unter den Lidl in Berlin, embracing spontaneity and allowing the music to evolve organically across a day of experimentation. In the following months, these sessions were deconstructed and reimagined with additional overdubs by Ayjay Nils, Meravi Goldman and Cassie Kinoshi.

The album’s closing track, "The Process Is The Purpose", culminates in a stuttering burst of saxophone and French horn, which gives way to a suspended moment of ethereal vocals and rumbling synth bass, once again displaying the dynamic ideology at the centre of the music. The listener is invited back to reality by a closing vocal collage, featuring notable voices like Toni Morrison, David Lynch, and Marshall Allen, offering final reflections on this ode to human creativity and the transformative power of surrender. 
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