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Gultskra Artikler, "Galaktika"
Galaktika is an album full of welcome surprises. A miasmic mish-mash of otherworldly electronica it ranges free form through a whole gamut of seductive sound. A narrative arc can be traced through the way the songs unfold sequentially while still brimming with unpredictable squelches, pitter-patter, and bizarre vapor trails. Richly layered and tightly woven it never feels too dense, but is rather evocative of the ever changing astral imagery of a serialized dream, each sound expertly placed to tantalizing effect.
 
Lingering throughout the album are the ghostly voices of disembodied monks who continue to haunt the living. I get the feeling there is something sinister about them, or maybe just insane, as if they had lived on an isolated space station instead of in an earthly cloister. The common thread stitching the album together is that of space, its vastness, and the incredible distances separating the orbiting worlds, stars, clouds, and man made junk floating in the blackness. While by no means a new theme in electronic music, it is one that continues to be rewarding as qualified sound artists like Jake Dangers (with Music for Planetarium), and Nurse With Wound (on Space Music) continue to mine the territory. Now Moscow-based Alexey Devyanin, the man behind Gultskra Artikler, adds his contribution to the fold and he more than holds his own.
Sometimes it is hard to distinguish where one song lets up and another starts as they flow, for the most part, seamlessly into each other. The title track opens the album on an esoteric note with the deconstructed chants, both somnolent and abstract, that recur throughout. "Nanorobot" begins with timpani rumbles and the clinking shakes of a shamanic rattle before primitive wind instruments sidle their way in. I perceive the nanorobots as molecular glitches inside the keyboards, like they are eating at the circuitry, in the process of breaking them down. "Saturn" is a brilliant end to the first side. An intricate and melodious pulse drives through what has become a soup of ectoplasmic speaker sludge and crackling electricity.
The second side mixes things up even further as metallic electro-acoustic scrapings are merged with warm synthesizer washes, as on "Sputnik." Further precious moments are offered on "Asteroid" where a more symphonic approach is taken with a focus on the achingly lush synth strings that eventually fade out under the influence of gated tremolo. "Niti" continues with harmonic bell tolls softly reverberating, unmoored and set adrift. The strength of these two songs is in their emotional resonance, which makes for a nice touch amidst the otherwise recondite manifestations on this album. "Asteroid" and "Niti" also remind me of the power electronic music can have for touching the soul.
Great care has been shown in the creation of Galaktika. As a listener I am happy to travel with Devyanin for he is a courageous explorer. This release is presented in two forms, as a limited run of colored vinyl (mine is rubber duck yellow), and as an MP3 download, showcasing what I think are two ideal scenarios for listening. One is at home in the evening with the lights darkened and the hi-fi ready to go as I close my eyes and get comfortable for a bit of armchair voyaging. The other is while lying in bed with my headphones connected to a portable player for a completely immersive session. Either way there is one thing I can be sure of before take off: Gultskra Artikler has prepared an artful itinerary.
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