A.T.M.O.M. - Andromeda
Ambient
music exists since the mid 70s and it stemmed from the experimental and synthesizer-oriented styles of the period. Lots of
sub-genres developed on this fertile soil, thousands of different projects and
bands exploited the tools that such an abstracted way of human
self-realization can offer. And apparently, ambient music which explores different
cosmic themes and sketches might be one of the most famous between them, rooted
in the first albums of a legendary Brian Eno, Steve Roach and many other
artists that created thousands of hours of various materials for us to enjoy.
That's why, you have to be a super talented and creative person to be able to
bring something new into it; admit it or not, but it is really hard to compete
in this genre when you are surrounded by dozens of genius albums out there. But
nevertheless, people don’t stop to release cosmological records, they continue
to dive into open space and travel between the stars in search for
enlightenment. One of them is a Russian resident Taras Voloshuk that expresses
himself under the name A.T.M.O.M. (At the Moment of Madness) since 2009. He is
a quite famous person on the local post-industrial scene being active in
Saint-Petersburg with few other projects like Toxi-X (harsh noise), Nano
Synthetic (rhythmic noise) and Fractal
Flints (noisecore) alongside organizing the local noise festivals Noise
Pollution and collaborating with other experimental artists like
Bardosenteticcube. With A.T.M.O.M. Taras discovers his poetical and melodic
side trying to immerse in coldness of the open space, absorbing the light of
distant star system and transferring it into the language of music.
"Andromeda" is an album that was released by Zhelezobeton label during 2014 and it appears to be the first "physical" record from Taras while all his previous albums were presented in a digital format only. It is concentrated mainly around synthetic driven melodies, and as you might already guess, the theme that underlines those melodies is the Andromeda Galaxy, the largest galaxy of the local group that the Milky Way (out galaxy) belongs to it as well. After such a preface you may expect some revelations from the music itself, but jumping slightly ahead, I will hasten to disappoint you because besides the spirit behind the album I couldn’t find anything that could have possibly excite me.
As I've already mentioned, the music of A.T.M.O.M. is based on floating synthesized melodies without specific highs or lows, being mostly kind of an atmospheric background while you read some book or work on a computer. The ambiance on most of the tracks is quite shallow and reminds me of a low-budget PC game and I have to assure you that there are enough brighter pieces of space music on the market today. The same sound keeps rolling from track to track, some of them have a darker atmosphere like "Dust" or "Plasma", and the rest are typical gleams of cosmic sounds. I must admit that maybe in a proper place with proper decorations and a proper video screening such music could have blossomed much stronger, but I am at my home full of really interesting music in the "arm-length principle". That’s why I can allocate only the last two tracks being somehow entertaining, but all the rest do not exceed the level of an easy-listening "background soundtrack". There is a certain rhythmic component of electronic beat that is added to the "Abstract Earth" and "Orbital" which turns both compositions to be more IDM-ish and throws in some extra flavor just enough to save the day.
My dear audiophiles, to make a long story short, there is too much average music out there. But maybe the purpose of such albums is to make us understand the true value of really good products that can bring a genuine experience even if the price of this ability of comprehension is the time which is spent on records like "Andromeda". That's why it is important to have a taste of them from time to time and leave them behind as fast as possible.
Oct 20 2015
"Andromeda" is an album that was released by Zhelezobeton label during 2014 and it appears to be the first "physical" record from Taras while all his previous albums were presented in a digital format only. It is concentrated mainly around synthetic driven melodies, and as you might already guess, the theme that underlines those melodies is the Andromeda Galaxy, the largest galaxy of the local group that the Milky Way (out galaxy) belongs to it as well. After such a preface you may expect some revelations from the music itself, but jumping slightly ahead, I will hasten to disappoint you because besides the spirit behind the album I couldn’t find anything that could have possibly excite me.
As I've already mentioned, the music of A.T.M.O.M. is based on floating synthesized melodies without specific highs or lows, being mostly kind of an atmospheric background while you read some book or work on a computer. The ambiance on most of the tracks is quite shallow and reminds me of a low-budget PC game and I have to assure you that there are enough brighter pieces of space music on the market today. The same sound keeps rolling from track to track, some of them have a darker atmosphere like "Dust" or "Plasma", and the rest are typical gleams of cosmic sounds. I must admit that maybe in a proper place with proper decorations and a proper video screening such music could have blossomed much stronger, but I am at my home full of really interesting music in the "arm-length principle". That’s why I can allocate only the last two tracks being somehow entertaining, but all the rest do not exceed the level of an easy-listening "background soundtrack". There is a certain rhythmic component of electronic beat that is added to the "Abstract Earth" and "Orbital" which turns both compositions to be more IDM-ish and throws in some extra flavor just enough to save the day.
My dear audiophiles, to make a long story short, there is too much average music out there. But maybe the purpose of such albums is to make us understand the true value of really good products that can bring a genuine experience even if the price of this ability of comprehension is the time which is spent on records like "Andromeda". That's why it is important to have a taste of them from time to time and leave them behind as fast as possible.
Oct 20 2015
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Accessory - More Than Machinery is available at POPONAUT from 9,95€
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