Akkord I On: "ppp-fff"

Slowly Vital Weekly conquers the world - or rather the world conquers Vital Weekly. Akkord I On are from Almaty, Kazakhstan - the very first time I receive something from that part of the world, of which I know nothing (but I never go the cinema either).

The label Replica was launched during a festival of the same name, the very first (again!) in that country. Akkord I On is a duo of Roman Bliznetsov and Konstantin Timoshenko, who released an EP before and now come with "ppp-fff", which classical music phrase for "pianissimo-fortissimo" - very strong silence that is.




Timoshenko plays laptop, field recordings and electronics, while Bliznetsov plays accordion (hence the band name), small horns and objects. Just as we recently saw with the release by Zavoloko, this seems to be a new wave of artists merging music from their own country along with microsound, techno or more experimental music. Akkord I On does it mainly with techno like music. Pieces are held together with a 4/4 rhythm, over which they freely (and more experimentally) freak out with their sounds.

Not every moment succeeds well, such as "Grace" which is way too long, and muddles in dub effects, but the opening "F Birds" is very nice, with clear field recordings, melancholy on the accordion and a strong beat. Also "Shoegazetta" is quite alright (and the titles shows their humor, "L'Amourmansk" is another fine example).

This release may have needed a bit more editing, but as debut it's quite alright.

[CD-R by Replica]

Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly
Photos: R.R.