Ekhodom
Montserrat House
I’m not sure if there’s a Russian connection here, but all these mysterious electronic tracks come to us with names like “Kontact” and “Mashina Vremeni” and “Sputnik.” Sonically, they are quiet, complex tone poems with occasional rhythm and meter, but mostly a slow calm looping of simple musical phrases, sometimes spiced up by weird space noises. These are “Movie Space Noises” with clever interleaving of tones and keys. Real space noise is mostly fans and pumps; I heard that from a real astronaut. This is better.
The experience of listening to Ekhodom isn’t so much “Let’s look for a hit number to put in heavy rotation” but more “let’s slip this on and have a martini and see where our mind can take us.” Each title translates nicely into English, and each track stands on full equality with its fellows. I’m up to “Sboi Sistemi” (Their System), a good example of what this experience offers. The rhythm bounces along, not quite happy, not quite sad. It’s followed by a flock of minor chords and oblong rhythms. By “Vera” there’s a madness in this method, and I’m drifting into a trance-like appreciation for electronic music that takes the time to entertain, and not just mystify. Its non-danceable sounds for the rest of the 21st century.
