inbuilt obsolescence
London based inbuilt obsolescence was born from session musicians Owain Arthur (guitar etc) and often David Kemp (saxophone etc) throwing together into long-form improvised performances; break-beats, jazz lines and whatever else comes to mind from their shared experiences in music production, sound-design, song-writing, and musical direction for bands around the UK.
As resident and co-instigator of Destroy / Rebuild at Block1, Berlin and West-London experimental showcase Cosmic Render, bringing together experimental and obscure sounds is a practice heard in live sets, as tranquil oddities and diverse textures are artfully incorporated into an eclectic live mix involving processed samples, drones and as many live instruments and musicians are available (and practical) at the time.
Scanning the digital archives of collected human memory for inspiration, inbuilt obsolescence sets spontaneously re-interpret recorded artefacts, creating a momentary window into a constantly moving lived experience. In the fusion of these sounds, spoken word, field recordings and live instruments, inbuilt obsolescence create their own brand of space-age psychedelia. Crushing waves into submission, reimagining them into some new musical semblance.
The rest of it — three more paragraphs
Recent performances at deep listening parties and festivals such as Springkell, New Grass, Campos de Marte and Perpendicular have witnessed the inbuilt obsolescence live sound find its own space as hypnotic ambient(esque) jazz(ish), dropping future-dystopian saxophone and guitar colours onto a trance-inducing sonic canvass.
With a broad outlook and welcoming attitude to various sounds and artists, inbuilt obsolescence is as ever a vehicle to spread the message that we can all love, are in essence the same, and can live together, having been led astray by intangible constructs of power.
You can find odd jams and live sets on their SoundCloud. Stay in touch via Instagram.
Their Resident Advisor profile, in full and unedited.
The night
- Thu 20 Aug 2026New Grass: Green SpacesIkii · New Grass
Who they play with
One night, and this is who was on it.
- Thu 20 Aug 2026azul · Romi · Toxido Mask · Lau
The nights, the rooms and the bills are the listings themselves. The biography is Resident Advisor's. Nothing on this page was written for it.