Exit Project an Aural Mess

EXIT PROJECT

Livesplashes

Creative Commons 7378-11

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This CD made me feel like I was a teenager again, but not in a good way. It reminded me of early encounters with non-representational art; back when I didn’t appreciate it because I insisted on trying to figure out what it was. Maybe this Russian club band is like non-representational art and what, to my ears, are shapeless compositions filled with random tones, squawks, and disconnected beats, are actually brilliant explorations of music’s lines, shapes, and colors. Or maybe it really is random noise in search of a groove that’s been foisted off as “cool” to an art music crowd too image-conscious to ask, “What the hell is this?” I’m going with the second explanation. The album’s four drawn-out tracks were recorded live in a Moscow club. Both the music and the crowd evoked misguided sessions from Andy Warhol’s The Factory that similarly entranced hipsters working on their image, but which history subsequently dubbed elaborate ruses performed by charlatans for the benefit of poseurs. Perhaps that’s overly harsh on my part. Fine. I’m perfectly willing to say that I just didn’t get this album, but one that opens with a track titled “Je ne sais pas lá” (I am not there) makes me think there really isn’t anything to get. Label it soundscaping without an exit strategy. –Rob Weir