EXIT
PROJECT
Livesplashes
Creative
Commons 7378-11
*
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 lรก” (I am not there) makes me think there
really isn’t anything to get. Label
it soundscaping without an exit strategy. –Rob
Weir
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