Featuring Alexey Sysoev on prepared piano & composition, Vladimir Gorlinsky on guitar, Daniil Pilchen on toy piano & pipes, Alexander Manotskov on gongs & claves, Konstantin Sukhan on trumpet, Alexey Zaitsev on flute, Darya Zvedina on wind object, Dmitry Ochinniskov on saw and Alexandra Serikova on voice.

Thanks to labels like Leo and Creative Sources, the Russian underground is has been documented after many years hidden away. I reviewed a trio disc earlier this year which featured but Mr. Sysoev and Mr. Sukhan, both of whom are members of this nine member ensemble. The lengthy liner notes from Mr. Sysoev pose a number of questions and include quotes from Corneius Cardew and Eddie Prevost. This is a studio recording (from the Dom Cultural Centre in Moscow) and the piece was played ten times previously, each one different as the piece evolved.

Wallpapers 3.1.6 starts out with stark, spacious sounds, most acoustic and selectively paced: prepared & toy piano, acoustic guitar, flute, minimal percussion and wind sounds, exquisite and eerie. Is this music conducted or directed or written out? As tempo speeds up, so does the tension and excitement increase and expand. The music becomes more magical and hypnotic as it goes, hard to tell that there are nine players involved.

The overall vibe is rather Morton Feldman-like, it is more about an environmental ambiance rather than having anything resolve in any sort of a predictable way. There is nothing here that indicates the origin of this music but I am most impressed nonetheless.

Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG