“I get by with a little help from my friends”, sings Ringo Starr, and this comforting concept has not been lost on Alexandr Vatagin. He’s spent the last couple decades collaborating with numerous artists while pursuing interests of his own through Port Royal, Tupolev and Quarz. Some of the members of those projects join him here, along with other luminaries including Pawn, Giulio Aldinucci and members of epic45 and Radian. The result is a warm and inviting half hour of electronic twinkles, ambient washes and subtle pulses.
To Vatagin’s credit, the album flows as a single work despite the presence of so many guests. Part of the appeal is in trying to guess who guests on each track without using the liner notes as a cheat sheet. That little electronic stutter in the middle of “elbe” sure sounds like Radian ~ and lo, it is indeed Martin Siewart! And the music box sway of “elisa”, along with Vatagin’s cello and an unanswered phone ~ could that be Hideka Umezawa? Yes it is, although the track’s brevity (50 seconds) is also the album’s only disappointment. (Perhaps somebody had to catch a plane.) It’s a little harder to figure out which track features James Yates, because the track doesn’t sound like epic45. Vatagin does include one dead giveaway with “insomnia with port-royal”, but I won’t steal all the fun.
The press release lists “swirling celli” as an instrument, and while this is literally accurate (celli being the Italian plural of cello), the description seems associatively accurate as well. The phrase conjures images of cells in motion under a microscope, and if such cells were both sounds and fragments of sounds, this would make an apt description of Serza. The album delves into melody, but does not dwell on it; multiple passages present facets of instruments without displaying the whole; and the timbres connect, intimating that lysis has occurred in the adjoining cells. By name and sound – an unraveling of placidity – “march of the dancing barriers” best illustrates this allegory. The cells swirl, they push, they break through, like the sounds of one artist influencing those of another.
A happy 5-year anniversary to Valeot records and its founder, and many more! (Richard Allen)
Release date: 16 April
a closer listen 