An Corporation • An Corporation [LP+7"single]

An Corporation's Self-Titled debut LP on vinyl. Comes on 12" + 7" vinyl combo housed in a gatefold cover with tons of extra goodies! Quite an impressive package from a band that makes no compromises! 

Following their fantastic performance at dunk!festival 2025 we're happy to offer this record to European fans for the very first time! Don't miss out on this incredible record, for fans of Grails, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Wang Wen! 

BIO

An Album"

Can You Get Me a Glass of Water? (Author: 张铎瀚)
— Preface to An Corporation

Formed in 2020, An Corporation translates directly to "a company," though the use of the article is incorrect, leading me to refer to them as "One Gram Company." This instrumental/experimental rock band, composed of electric guitar, upright bass, violin, and drums, is set to release their debut album, An Corporation, in June. When dissecting the music itself, one can discern influences from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and later Swans, as well as hints of instrumental metal bands like Russian Circles. These comparisons suffice to anchor their "style" in a communicative sense, but fall short of encapsulating their full expression.

Much like their name, An Corporation's expression system is imbued with a cold sense of humor, initially evident in their self-mockery of post-rock's standard practice of building long atmospheres before abruptly raising a wall of sound. In the opening track "起音墙," the guitarist shouts "起音墙" in a tone reminiscent of political slogans or oaths, followed immediately by the wall of sound. There is no enticing buildup, just a dry command/call.

An Corporation's humor is further reflected in their deliberate disregard for musical themes or semantic displacement. Titles like "白龙马" (White Dragon Horse), "智慧的五个菠萝" (Five Wise Pineapples), and "JiN" are utterly perplexing, possibly arbitrary or perhaps named after old acquaintances. The texts surrounding the music no longer serve as close guardians guiding the listener's emotions/thoughts. An Corporation explicitly states that their music has no connection to reality, resulting in an abstract comedy that, while risking meaninglessness, avoids any degree of disdain through linguistic intrusion, making everything tend towards something maddeningly and amusingly natural. This is almost a container-like treatment. In the music, they also grow some inconspicuous glass spikes within the typical post-rock cycle of suppression, crescendo, and release (as in "升华之夜" - Transfigured Night). These spikes don't hurt but force a wry smile. For example, around four minutes into "起音墙," there's a sudden jarring guitar passage, and at the end of "智慧的五个菠萝," the violin's shattered shriek resembles a high-decibel laugh, followed by a sudden drum malfunction at the climax, abruptly deflating the painstakingly built suspense of the entire song.

The most straightforward comedy occurs in "白龙马," where twitching guitar, bass, drums, wailing violin, BBC sitcom samples, and highly rhythmic guitar riffs intertwine, roughly conveying the following scene:

"Can you get me a glass of water?"
"What did you say? I didn't hear you!"
"Can you get me a glass of water?"
"What did you say? I didn't hear you!"
"Can you get me a glass of water?"
Smash!!!! (Glass shattering on the ground)

It was probably when I heard "白龙马" that I began pondering a question: if we were to add vocals to this album, what kind should it be? The immediate and only form that came to mind was: laughter.

Post-rock has long been washed smooth by a current of sentimentalism, becoming overly polished and insipid. This is mainly manifested in self-satisfied emotional climaxes and a loss of transcendental form in clichéd performances, ultimately rendering post-rock as the best accompaniment for study, work, running, or house chores outside of classical music.

An Corporation creates music with energy while reflecting on the musical form they employ. Through my personal perspectives and biases, when listening to their music, I often envision the process of glass-making: quickly cooling after melting, where water meets fire, forming restrained transparency. Cool void and transparency are also a form of glass's strength. A glass cup resting on a wooden table, welcoming the incision of light, is too mundane, but in this incision, you can see various mad flashes flowing across the glass surface. For when it is whole, it contains everything, and when broken, it harms. Perhaps compared to the preachy punk rock and pretentious ambient post-rock, this glass music brings listeners closer to freedom? You can be the light, you can pour your laughter into the cup, or you can smash the cup. Listening to music is like partaking in the fate of a glass cup.