Sergey Pakhomov — Circle
The physical version of the release comes in the form of a grey shelled cassette- this is presented in a simple, yet effective monochrome sleeve, which features a photo of someone holding a circular shape in front of their face. It appeared in late October of this year, and sadly is now sold-out…so really the digital download is ones only option at present.
According to the sleeves linear notes, both of the walls here where created by the use of a turntable & stone circle, which was fed through a five-band equalizer. The first track is entitled I, and this finds Pakhomov creating a highly complex mesh of pops, snaps, clicks, and scraps. There’s a pared-back/barren, yet detailed & soothing quality to the track, which at points rather reminded me of a more disciplined & slightly speed-up recording of a fire. At times it feels like it may suddenly thin back, as you get an off pattern pop or snap seemingly hanging for a microsecond longer than you expect, yet throughout it still keep tumbling on in its most rewarding manner. At moments its almost brain-stretching, as you try to follow a certain pattern or chain of textures, as they have been masterful layered & arranged in a most intricate way.
The second track II feels even busier & tightly packed with its selection of textures- yet through-out nothing ever becomes muddled or uneven- as Pakhomov perfectly balances the mix of the track. For the ‘wall’ we get a very detailed blend of thinner pops & scraps, grainy tumbling descents, cascading clicks & snaps. The track really seems to fully encase you in its highly complex mesh of textures- giving one the feeling of both urgency & fairly manic mood- yet once again it’s perfectly captured & balanced so nothing becomes lost or over-fed.
Circle is yet more proof of both Pakhomov textural skill, clever balancing & mixing texturing, and generally masterful wall-craft. It’s just a pity it disappeared so fast in its cassette form.