(04.25.06) Monika Herodotou’s Lampse label is fast becoming one of the most challenging UK independent labels around, its broad spectrum of avant-garde releases apparently staying true to Monika’s wish to release all the music that she herself enjoys, rather than pigeon-holing or pinning the label to a specific genre or style. If you can genuinely claim to love all of the releases on Lampse so far, you have exceptionally eclectic taste!
Pofigistka is a particularly joyous surprise: essentially an EP
and a remix EP in one, it contains four wonderfully discrete pieces each of which are subsequently remixed by other artists. This formula works perfectly here thanks both to the combined talents of Russian duo Alexey Devyanin and Dmitry Garin, whose four offerings are both exotic and intriguing, and to the artists selected to remix these pieces. These remixes differ markedly both from one another as well as
from the pieces they reinterpret.
What is even more remarkable is the statement in the press release that reveals that these four original tracks were recorded live in the studio. Perhaps it is this that lends them their deeply personal air of improvisation and emotional involvement. “Fizik Dyadya Kolya” kicks off the EP with a killer, vibrating bassline that leads distorted, glitched and seared guitars through a panoply of whistling, chiming exotica that is texturally rich and atmospheric while Marcus Fjellstrom’s reinterpretation is typical of the artist’s avant-classical style: palatial, crystalline and icy, his cavernous atmospheres are yet another exercise in estrangement.
“Siluet Kotlet” is a more soulful affair, its delicately nuanced electric guitar loops repeat atop jingling, easy-listening melodies, more jumbled inner-city field recordings and wowing pads.
Machienfabriek’s superlative remix, meanwhile, is one of Pofigistka‘s real gems. Taking an open-ended fraction of the original electric-guitar melody and looping it relentlessly, Rutger
Zuyderverlt fades the reworked composition in at a tantalisingly slow pace, before building up a sheet of static and white noise that reaches almost deafening levels before being cut altogether, leaving a few moments of the memory of the melodic loop. Look out for Machinefabriek’s forthcoming LP for the Lampse label, as it is going to be quite something.
“Institut Mathematiki” is a rather more light-hearted and ethnic flavoured piece, evoking hot, dry and dusty bustling locations with its chittering samples and sitar-like instrumentation. The remix by John Twells (Xela) is very, very strange indeed. Detuned bursts of ukelele are strummed behind a more sensible acoustic guitar melody while a strange, twisted voice wails and gurgles in the foreground. This is a significantly different take on the original that retains the spirit of live recording adopted by the original works themselves.
“Optusk Navsegda” is arguably the best and undoubtedly the most memorable of the originals. A haunting, looped and siren-like melody travels amongst clouds of reverberating sonic debris, surprisingly subtle but scarred guitar that is brilliantly low-key in the mix, clunking percussive errata and half-heard field-recorded conversation. The result is simply unforgettable and will remain lodged in the subconscious for a long time. Deaf Center’s Erik Skodvin, remixing here under the name Svarte Grainer, is the least divergent from the original, essentially chopping it up and adding layers of ambient washes highly reminiscent of those found on Pale Ravine. If you like the work of Deaf Center, you’ll love this remix.
Pofigistka is both diverse and experimental in theory yet strangely enchanting and accessible in practice. Gultskra Artikler have managed to perfectly offset the eclectic and personal nature of their collected ethnic, jazz and soul tinted musical strands with memorable melodic hooks and nostalgic atmospheres, forming a cohesive and always engaging selection of sonic destinations. This coupled with the carefully selected and beautifully crafted remixes combine to make Pofigistka one of the most intriguing releases in recent months.
Pofigistka is out now on Lampse.
