Neti-Neti
Echo of Being / Grace in Rot

Echo of Being / Grace in Rot is a powerful sonic meditation on grief by the duo Neti-Neti, composed of vocalist Amirtha Kidambi and percussionist Matt Evans. The project originated from improvisation sessions born out of personal loss, evolving from an intimate exchange into a practice that bridges the personal and the political.

Kidambi’s voice moves fluidly between South Asian vocal traditions and extended techniques, amplified and reshaped through real-time processing, delays, and layers of harmonic distortion. Evans’ percussion becomes both rhythmic engine and textural sculpture, his drums and cymbals feeding into samplers, effects, and loops that refract each gesture into new shapes. Both musicians harness feedback—not as background noise, but as a visceral, structural force—letting sustained tones and resonances pulse through the body like a physical presence.

The result is a sound world that fuses syncopated grooves, cathartic outbursts, and meditative drones into a ritualistic electroacoustic space. At times sparse and suspended, at times dense with surging overtones, the music channels the corporeal force of feedback and the psychoacoustic play of sustained tones, evoking both the sacred drones of Eliane Radigue and the raw immediacy of This Heat’s rhythmic noise. A haunting final take, performed in total darkness, captures the duo at their most immersive—an enveloping, almost otherworldly experience in which the air itself seems to vibrate with loss and memory.

Echo of Being / Grace in Rot draws its emotional weight from both personal bereavement and the collective grief of our era, shaped by the relentless feed of traumatic images and news. The record challenges listeners to confront these overwhelming realities, transforming mourning into a shared act of resistance and healing. It reclaims humanity amidst the unimaginable, offering not only a document of sound but a space for reflection, embodiment, and resilience.

Amirtha Kidambi — voice, feedback, effects
Matt Evans — drums, feedback, SP404, small bells, pitch pipe

All tracks improvised by Neti-Neti and recorded in single takes

Recorded January 24th, 2024 at Synthia Studio New York, NY
Engineered by Sarah Galdes
Produced and Mixed by Nick Zanca
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi

Cover artwork by Joe McKay, Amirtha Kidambi and Matt Evans