Exalge is a live, fully improvised recording by New York City–based modular synthesist Matthew Ryals and Milan–based violist Federica Furlani (aka effe effe). Capturing the raw electricity of a first-time meeting, the album documents a spontaneous collaboration sparked when the two artists shared a bill at Exalge, a cultural center in Milan, Italy. Marked by Ryals’ distinctive “acoustic” palette—crafted entirely in real time with his modular synthesizer—and interwoven with effe effe’s refined vocabulary of extended techniques, the album unfolds as a single unedited performance divided into five tracks. The vinyl edition concludes with a bonus track, Crosstalk, a solo studio performance by Ryals that further highlights the improvisational language he has honed in recent years.
