Dia Archa

Infinite Expanse continues its excavation of forgotten Czech sound archives with ‘Selected Ambient 1988–1989’ by Dia Archa – a project that briefly surfaced in the late 1980s and early 1990s before dissolving into obscurity. Formed by Michal Kořán and Filip Homola, Dia Archa emerged from the same circle as Richter Band, Jaroslav Kořán, and Modrá, tracing an overlooked lineage of post-industrial minimalism and domestic ambient experiment.

Working at the tail end of the socialist era with almost no access to instruments, the group built their sound from Casio keyboards, prepared guitar, and borrowed synths, exploring long tones, accidental rhythms, and environmental texture. The results feel both intimate and detached – fragments of melody suspended in air, recorded on consumer tape decks in theatres and living rooms.

There’s a sense of stillness running through these recordings – a kind of private ambient music that predates the terminology, made without precedent or scene. Tape hiss and low-end hum merge with the room itself, evoking half-remembered interiors and the faint pull of the outside world. Heard now, it carries the same quiet charge as the early works of Eno or Roedelius, yet its textures and pacing remain rooted in the local experimental milieu.

Unearthed from private tapes and carefully restored, these recordings reveal a previously hidden corner of late-80s Czech experimental music, shimmering with sparse, magnetic textures and quiet intensity.