Alexey Sysoev‘s composition “Selene” for piano solo (courtesy of Yuri Favorin) lasts about two and a half hours, this reviewer having not heard it in its entirety. Curiosity has now grown, thanks to this collaborative project between Grundik Kasyansky and Sysoev, released on cassette in a limited edition of 100 copies, almost completely sold out at source at the moment of writing. Kasyansky applied his expertise in editing and reshaping the original material, devising music with transfixing attributes magnified by a clever use of the feedback synthesizer.
As an opener, a steady automatic heartbeat – distinguished by noises similar to the first grooves of a poorly preserved vinyl record – underscores suspended droplets of high-range chords refracting around the audio landscape. During the second movement the repetitiveness of that activity, enhanced by loops, is brought into sharper focus. The hypnotically dissonant nature of the textural wholeness increases and, with that, also the interferences of the electronic substance, pops and throbs never failing to be noticed.
In the third segment, the piano reverberates through a sense of absolute freedom while the inescapable synthetic/percussive accompaniment keeps the tension level up. The trance factor is prominent in the 14-plus minute final track, the constant reiteration of sample-and-hold constituents initiating undeniable repercussions on the listener’s sympathetic equipment. The pianistic particles retain their tendency to eschew a genuine structure, spawning tiny luminous constellations whose harmonic implications will remain secret even after the fade-out.
MASSIMO RICCI. TOUCHING EXTREMES. 