“Complex? Sure but we discover its charms listen after listen. An undeniable sign of its immense depth”
Cold I to Cold XIII 67:33
(CD 67:33) (V.F.)
(Abstract, Ambient)
Aquavoice is the musical project of synthesist Tadeusz Luczejko who found his place with Generator.pl, an interesting Polish label of EM which abounds in very interesting artists. Seventh album of the Polish musician, COLD is a disconcerting ambient symphony whose syncretism of the tonalities adds a surreal dimension to a sound collage resulting from all the possibilities of Luczejko's instruments and especially of his imagination. Complex, COLD is an astonishing journey of abstract electronic music (EM) in a musical universe as ambient as a wind storm on a crystalline plain.
Cold I to Cold III open this anarchic work with eclectic sounds that flourish between silky and undulating synth layers. They ululate and intertwine like spectral masses among fine droplets that trickle down the walls of a floorless cave. Already the contrast of the places and the paradox of the senses are mutual. The movement is superbly tender, and the atmosphere is deliciously restful while pulsations with nasal resonances hammer a strange procession of sounds that drift towards the nothingness of Cold II. A nothingness flavored with motionless layers that are assailed by light riffs of a discreet guitar and organic serpentines that unravel their sonorities in a sound universe at the crossroads of Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Markus Reuter and some will even put forward the name of Harold Budd that I unfortunately do not know. COLD belongs as much to the imagination of the listener than to the conception of its creator. Take Cold III for example where we hear wood chipping in a Kitaro forest. Guitar strings are rolling in loops there between sporadic minimalist keyboard chords, putting to oblivion a strange whisper of a barely understandable female voice. Cold IV is simply bewitching with its drifting keyboard chords that loop back to a thin bass line and a glass xylophone whose keys wriggle like the elytra of a metallic cricket. The whole thing creates an amazing sensual pulse even if totally abstract. The intro of Cold V could come straight out of the rituals of a Martian exorcism that we would not be surprised at all. Metallic streaks tear the quietness of an industrial humming while a voice screams an unknown dialect. This phase becomes a source of infernal din that gradually subsides around the 3rd minute, letting a rare tranquility escape that cradles itself in the shadow of the crystal tower. Cold VI follows on this ethereal sweetness with thin layers of a solitary synth. They wander among good silky floating and fluty lines, bringing COLD back into the fold of a more accessible work. Cold VII offers a moody approach where a male voice mumbles in Polish over a slow, sad and melancholic structure.
A bit like Vangelis on Blade Runner, Aquavoice likes to let its notes sink into nothingness. Notes that float and wander to mold themselves to the shapes and fantasies of the Polish musician. With its surges of organ which border chimerical waves, Cold VIII is the livelier track on this album. A good track where the sonorities glitter on the top of lunar seas. Sounds braided by a synth with strolling waves and twisted solos that parade in a ball of colorful sounds, clashing in a wadding forged from steel. One of the good titles in this album. A soft and discreet incantation accompanies a synth whose waves and spectral streaks wander sinuously among chords of a guitar with a Japanese tone, Cold IX is just as intriguing as Cold X. The music takes an unsettling and eerie path with furtive noises, faint ululations and creaking doors in a strange cosmic nebula. A track that ties the throat, just like the intriguing Cold XIII. With its incongruous background noises and resonant circles floating around minimalist chords, Cold XI swims in a good and warm bass layer. No rhythms, not even the shadow of a beat, as everything is in suspension like on Cold XII whose limpidity is based on beautiful morphic loops which undulate in this psychedelic-electronic aura which surrounds COLD since its first chords. And this vision concludes with Cold XIII and its heavy ethereal structure whose breaths push our imagination to the doors of the darkness which rages well beyond our borders.
This 1st experience with Aquavoice left me as perplexed as it also charmed me at times. COLD is a difficult album to tame, as we are constantly immersed in this sonata for background noise that aims to a constant quest for disjointed harmonies. There are good moments. Strong and disturbing moments, I think in particular of Cold IV, VI, VIII and XIII which make us seek to discover a little more with each listening. An undeniable sign of its immense depth.
Sylvain Lupari (August 29th, 2010) *****
Available at Generator.pl