The album «Polus» released in 2001 is a stunning example of psycho-acoustic music. Creators of the album - the trio Portable Palace do not limit themselves to just the acoustic media. Instead, they employ various chemical reactions and optical phenomena that nature is so rich in. The music on this CD is only one side of Portable Palace’s activities. Close the windows, leave yourself to your own devices, concentrate and insert this CD. This is the only way to notice all the nuances of musical compositions found on «Polus». The sound on the very brink of human perception, never fading out completely while never developing it into a crescendo, without any jumps or frantic rhythms. The long curve of otherworldly energy is constantly crossing the composition cutting out anew the settled outlook. So, the lightning must exist. The primordial energy of the Cosmos. It leaves its stamp in the eyes of those who have seen it, like a permanent photograph stuck in one’s memory. The real event with a definitive form gains mythological shades in the music of Portable Palace. This is not a punishment or a sign from heaven telling us about the imminent apocalypse. It’s the encyphered message to the world, concealed by its own shell. The strictly underlined electrical zigzag that has ripped through the sky and is now hurrying towards the earth with the need of a quick kiss. The visual flight of this rocket lightning lasts for a few seconds, nevertheless, it holds another dimension within itself, where the seconds will last for an hour. An hour of musical metamorphoses and transfiguration. An hour of an alluring diffusion of the sacred and the profane, the serenity and the passion, the suffering and the purification, the anxiety and the tranquility, the languor and the sweet bliss. Its falling is not useless, because the finale will occur as the union of all earthly elements. It will be the time of universal harmony and the final crystallization of the ideas but the listener is here to finish off this moment with his/her thoughts. «Polus» is only a way to the truth, but it should be traveled very carefully, not missing any little change. The cosmic sound of «Polus» is a concentrated expression of the participants’ inner worlds, a musical projection of three separate individuals - those of Alexander Kalin, Eveline Domnic and Dmitriy Gelfand, hence the three-dimensional feel and the fullness of sound. The cold suspension is laid on top of the squelching surface of the dwelled landscape as the air is filled with the enveloping mist of cavernous silence. The clearness and pastoral gentleness, run through electronic millstones, is turned into a diamond-field of coloured pieces, and each piece filters the magnetic light of celestial bodies. That’s why with all of its strictness «Polus» doesn’t feel empty and homeless. It’s akin to the initiation process after which the world is never the same again.

Nicola Tesla, The godfather of electricity became the figure that served as an inspiration for the trio Portable Palace to create their «Emit» album. The album includes 8 compositions, united organically by the theme of electricity, presenting itself via sound on this record. «When I close my eyes the first thing I see is a plane dark blue background similar to the color of the clear starless sky. In several seconds this picture is revived by numerous shimmering green sparks, approaching me layer by layer. After that the right side is lit by a beautiful decoration consisting of two parallel systems of tight right-angle lines. These lines are brightly colored but the dominating colors are yellow-green and golden. The lines are immediately increased in brightness and everything sparkles with shimmering portions of light. This whole picture slowly passes through my field of vision...», - these are the words that Tesla used to describe his imagination in action while coining his next invention. And this is the picture that comes to life with the first sounds of «Emit». Head-spinning whirlpools, sea tides, sand dunes rich with shell pearls, whispering of the wind and the diversity of living world follow. Everything seen through alien eyes. The galactic evaporation of earthly dwelling, the round and spiky figures fill the space of «Emit». Various rumbles are seamlessly integrated with ordinary sounds wrapping the listener with the light shroud. Moon shimmerings of the daylight, the voices stretched, coming from the outside, The plasma spheres of raindrops - this is the vision of the world seen through this synthetic shroud. The spinning of atoms and molecules becomes audible. The secrets of creation are not known yet but each single second of «Emit» draws you nearer to the final solution. The last composition «Data Link» fades out - one pressing of the «repeat» button - and you’re in the beginning once again. The beginning of the CD, but not that of understanding. The understanding develops along the spiral and becomes clearer and fuller with each coil (or listening). Is it the Jacob’s stairway ultimately leading to God? «When an idea appears it is immediately finished off by my imagination: I change the construction, «switch on» the device while bringing it to perfection, making it alive in my head. In a similar way I’m capable of bringing the idea to perfection without even touching anything. Only then I give the final shape to this product of my brain. All of my inventions worked in such way...» - Tesla, the «inspired prophet of electricity» wrote. «Emit» stimulates the listeners imagination in building complex and whimsical constructions of biblical stairway and who knows, maybe one day comes the hour when this ideal image finally materializes.

"15id" stands for "15 Italian dishes", an appropriate name for this quality 15-track/78-minute sampler; its main characteristic is the fact that it mostly gathers groups from the Tuscanian cities of Livorno and Pisa (for non-Italian readers: the two cities are sorts of "historical enemies"), with a few "external guests" like Vonneumann, One Dimensional Man and Zero Tolerance for Silence. The standard is absolutely high throughout the whole cd, instrumental post-rock/indie noise being a sort of trait d'union of the various projects. Caboto open the cd with an incredible song which reminded me of Italian groups like Perigeo or Goblin in a modernized version... jazz-rock with a few prog hints and a peculiar cinematic dimension. Brilliant! A perfect incipit, but the following tracks are remarkable as well. To name but a few, Vonneumann, Zero Tolerance for Silence and Comfort (see review of their excellent cdr), in their own personal ways, mix free form experimentation and electric structures; Autobam and 8brr are fine examples of electronica (more structured the former, the latter reminding of Noto or Ikeda); Abarthjour Floreale have a softer melancholic approach in between My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, while One Dimensional Man close the cd with a blast of Jesus Lizard/Shellac styled noise rock. But again, the strength of the cd is its sense of coherence and high quality within different approaches and influences. Absolutely recommended, and courageous in its choice of collaborative DIY release and distribution.

Two half-hour long improvised pieces by Japanese guitarist Kinno Yoshiaki a.k.a. Onnyk, dating October 1995 and February 1997 (played respectively in a gallery and in his living room), released last year by Bryan Day's Public Eyesore (with an excellent cover art, as always). An extreme cd, not in the sense of harsh or noisy (the electric sound is crystal-clear, no feedback is involved), but very rigorous and sometimes hermetic in its sound research. Clusters of jazz scales, possibly some blues, are fragmented and reassembled in fast, frenetic passages which leave you dizzy. "Abstract" would be the key word for these improvisations - there's an undisputable display of tecnique, fantasy and research, resulting in a severe and demanding release. Talking of subjective feedback, and falling into the "personal tastes" field, I'd say I've been interested but not particularly captivated by these "Private Idioms". Much like with most abstract art, I just feel the lack of something to lean on, be it a noise, a melody or an overall atmosphere. But probably, if you're even remotely interested in improvisation or avantgarde guitar playing, this will probably be your cup of tea.

In the tough and controversial business of Dj-ing there are two characters who started in their early age (way to go!) and whose tracks became lucky chart-favourites quite quickly once they went solo: both Darren Emerson and Tim Deluxe have gained local and international recognition in the early millennium after they have both set up their own labels, Underwater and Ice Cream records, respectively. Before focusing on being a Dj full time Darren Emerson spent many years with Underworld, but in particular it was Tim Deluxe and his two top selling singles "Sirens / We All Love Sax" and "It Just Won't Do" (featuring Sam Obernik on vocals and whose video clip with skinny sexy volleyball playing chicks I actually remember seeing played on the infamous MTV while I was in Europe last summer) who made Emerson's label really take off. So here you have them both together, working the turntables mixing a lot of club best sellers which you might have actually heard even outside the club scene... Besides the above mentioned songs you'll find tracks by Mutiny, Medicine, Alex Gopher, Ian Pooley, Steve Mac, Jay J, Chris Lum, GusGus, T World, Dj Vitamin D feat. Miss Audry, D'Julz, Lay & Bushwacka!, Loose Headz and more...
The record has been released a couple of weeks ago in the US on Thrive records, which started in 1997 releasing original motion picture "Pi"'s soundtrack and is known in these days for another soundtrack ("Memento") and for having signed Paul Oakenfold exclusively for all Dj mix albums in the US.
Keep nodding!