ILINX
“Flipperen”

‘Flipperen’ takes the randomness of pinball and turns it into music. Using recordings from old pinball machines, the music mixes chaos and structure, reflecting the Fluxus spirit of play and chance. It’s a wild ride through sound, where things don’t always make sense–but that’s the fun of it.

During the quiet and strange Covid days, Suzana Lașcu, Robert Kroos, and Reinier van Houdt began a recording project based on the soundbites of pinball machines. They visited the empty Dutch Pinball Museum in Rotterdam and captured field recordings of machines from the 1960s to the 1990s. From these, they selected 28 samples to serve as thematic starting points for what they called ‘game pieces,’ recorded in two sessions at Sonology Studios in The Hague. The recordings were then shaped into sound collages using cut-up techniques and probabilistic processes.

The project is titled ‘Flipperen,’ released under the name ‘Ilinx.’ ‘Ilinx’ refers to a form of play described by Roger Caillois, which creates a temporary disruption of perception, similar to vertigo or trance. The trio’s improvisational approach intentionally follows this principle.

The samples were chosen to highlight how the ball moves through the pinball machines. The sound design reacts to its journey, capturing how it interacts with the machines and the elements inside.

Pinball is a game that combines control and randomness—each action leads to an unpredictable result, and the outcome is always uncertain. The ball bounces around, following its own path, guided by chance and momentum. This sense of unpredictability is reflected in the music, where the sounds are both structured and random. By combining recorded samples with processes that incorporate chance, the music mirrors the chaotic movement of the pinball, showing how disorder can form patterns and meaning.

The unpredictable nature of pinball connects to the work of avant-garde artists like the Fluxus movement, who embraced randomness and unconventional methods. This project delves into the tension between control and chaos, where play and randomness become tools for reimagining sound itself. It flows unpredictably, like the disorienting dance of a pinball bouncing between unseen paths.

The album cover features ‘Pinball Wizard II’ (1973) by Dutch Situationist Jaqueline de Jong, who once described the “flipside of existence” where time is bent and forms are constantly in play, much like the pinball itself. Jaqueline bought a pinball machine she named ‘Gaucho’ in 1972, and playing it gave her “wonderful and idiotic sensations,” reflecting the same chaos and playfulness that runs through this album. She generously allowed the use of her artwork before her passing in June 2024.