Novoe Tsarstvo - Voda Naidet Teply Dym (Cae-sur-a, 2011)

Novoe Tsartsvo – Voda Naidet Teply Dym
Cae-sur-a 2011

Novoe Tsartsvo is a fluctuating group of musicians from Russia that has also collaborated with Finnish musicians as well. On the j-card, Belorukov, Zherbin, Kretova, Aarni, Loparev, Kuts, and Afanasyev are credited. This tape documents a live recording done in Konala, Helsinki on January 2nd, 2011.

"Voda Naidet" the sounds begin with some droning acoustic vibrations, wailing. Maybe strings, maybe a saxophone. It sounds quite improvised, evident from their free form approach. The drones are high-pitched and light, yet layered, making for a very ephemeral aesthetic. What I would call the “first movement” of Side A, sounds like the group is trying to reach some sonic apex, meaning, it has a very exploratory nature. However, it is subtle and gentle and not aggressive in any way, which makes it all the more effective. This first movement then transitions beautifully into a slightly more harmonious and languid progression, filled with swooning, bowed strings weaving in and out of each other. SO beautiful!! Then, the droning strings fade out and some rhythmic percussion and free jazz saxophone enter the foreground, fluttering and squeaking away. For some reason the drums and the sax have more of a lo-fi sound to them, slightly more distorted. In general their (drums/sax) playing is also a bit more rambunctious than the rest of the music up to now, which goes nicely with the distortion. There is a nice rhythmic and improvisatory unity between the percussionist and the sax player throughout the piece.

"Teply Dym" begins with some droning strings and electronics and drums playing in a really heavy, yet slow, manner. A bit more of a dark and gloomy sound here. The drums and also the electronics are pretty lo-fi and distorted, contributing to this darker atmosphere. The drums and electronics fade out for some solo keyboard or organ chords droning and wavering. Some feedbacking ambience joins the organ, maybe originating from some delayed vocal chanting. It also sounds like there are some amplified strings, and perhaps some bowing on a cymbal. The sounds get a bit noisier and aggressive with some low, rumbling walls of electronic wash blossoming, but quickly settles down. At this point the ambience is very slow, gradual, and textural, making it pretty difficult to identify each sound.



Cassette for purchase: http://www.cae-sur-a.com/012-novoe-tsarstvo-voda-naidet-teply-dim/