“For the heads”. A pliable phrase to the point of cliché, but also one that happens to be particularly apt for Misha Hering’s debut LP under his own name, Cn[x]. The deep, exploratory music on Cn[x] was recorded in the aftermath of a heavy concussion that left Hering unable to do his day job as sound engineer at Holy Mountain studio on east London’s Hackney Road. With time to fill and daunting cognitive rehabilitation to complete, Hering returned to music making after a long absence.
Cn[x] refers to the Vagus Nerve, the tenth and longest cranial nerve, which extends from the brainstem through the neck and chest to the abdomen and regulates involuntary functions like heart rate, breathing and digestion. Vagus nerve stimulation is a promising treatment for some of the debilitating post-concussive symptoms, such as dizziness, persistent headaches and cognitive difficulties. Similarly, Cn[x] functions as a balm for tired minds, its plaintive melodies and percolating rhythms providing gentle challenge for piecing everything back together again. Uneasy beginnings give way to happier endings. New age synth pioneers go for a medical appointment uptown, stopping for a whisky nightcap with nineties techno baldheads on the way back home. Music for healing, without too many woo-woo associations. Selected ambient-not-ambient works.
Beneath its cryptic name, Cn[x] is refreshingly without artifice. Indeed, its seven interlocking pieces are the most personal, direct and emotional Hering has recorded to date. This intimate register is matched by its presentation.
Hering’s new label Vecccctorrrr, a family (and friends) affair. Small runs only, with no streaming. Cn[x]’s cover is a painting by Hering’s father Christoph, completed when he was much the same age as Misha is now. Art practice to make sense of getting older, and the challenges that life brings. Vecccctorrrr’s logo meanwhile, of two horses copulating, is based on a sculpture by Hering’s greatgrandfather. It indicates the ambitions for Vecccctorrrr, alongside Hering’s existing commitments at Holy Mountain studio, to function as a stud farm for musical thoroughbreds of all species.
