Estonian label RX:TX have been going from strength to
strength in recent months. The fruit of a collaborative
effort between Riga-based sound artist Evgeniy Droomoff
and Sound Meccano’s Rostislav Rekuta, with an
additional four-minute video and a audio-visual tool
created by Matthew Biederman, a Montreal-based artist
who operates under the DelRay moniker, Volokno
is a rather impressive study of the relationship between
sonic and visual forms.
The installation on which this album is based was premiered
in Helsinki in August 2004 as part of a RX:TX showcase
at the International Symposium on Electronic Art. Volokno
has since been presented in Geneva and Paris, and the
first live performance of the entire project took place
in Ljubljana at the end of last year.
Volokno is composed of four different sections,
including a video, a software, a book and a soundtrack.
All three visual creations are based on a series of
abstract paintings by Latvian painter Inese Bumane involving
colours and textures. The video was created from a database
of images with Digital Fibre, a software allowing to
combine music and images. Here, Biederman explores Bumane’s
various paintings and gets up, close and personal with
the images, revealing incredible details in the relief
and textures of each painting.
The music, created by sound artist Evgeniy Droomoff
and electronic musician Rostislav Rekuta, who has released
music as Neuron Communication and, more recently, as
Sound Meccano. Droomoff and Rekuta began working on
Volokno in early 2004, creating four superbly
detailed, dense and intricate pieces of ambient electronic
music. The particular minutia with which each sound
is placed within the spectrum results of a similar concept
to that developed by Biederman. These four tracks appear
intricately linked to each other, evolving from similar
soundscapes yet each revealing slightly different perspectives.
Fibre III: Fibrous Plexus, the longest track
on offer here, is also the most varied and captivating.
The sounds and noises collected here reveal a series
of rich ambient textures, with discreet organic layers
provided by flutist Eryn. The flute appears more prominently
on Fibre I: Wool Fibre. Rising above electronic
formations and interferences, it gives the piece a deep
pastoral feel. While Fibre II: Fibrous Facture
evolves around slightly more industrial tones, Fibre
IV: Nerve Fibre, which concludes this album, is
a peaceful composition built around a long drone and
a repetitive piano line.
Although Volokno encompasses a variety of media
and offers a variety of angles from which to approach
this record, the most impressive of its components is
to be found with the music. Working tightly together
and developing their compositions from a unique point,
Evgeniy Droomoff and Rostislav Rekuta create here a
stunning collection of beautiful and evocative moments
and dense textural soundscapes.
……………
4.2/5 |
