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As we listen to the works of K Markov, we inhabit a temperament somewhere just outside of everyday thought. His album Organic (60'09") presents three Electronic Music tracks of a spare and striking kind - positioned somewhere between the legends of the Berlin-School and today's ornamental world of computer control. Organic opens with Markov's questing lead melodies winding out above a churning, echo laden synth arpeggio. Compressing and then expanding space this propulsive mechanism provides more than enough pleasures for the strictest Spacemusic fan. While the energetic sequencer works are engaging and diverting, for some of us the center piece will be the most spacey dynamic abstraction. Within this atmosphere zone we find a realization meant to awaken, not dull our consciousness. Elsewhere, the seamless fusion of bold patterning pivots in a crisp advancing narrative. Adagio quality strings call our attention, as chords hold and shift in cerebral sonic drama. Glittering modulations and swirling figures bestow a sense of depth, as the juxtaposition of tones reveal the inner life of sound. This album possesses a great diversity of moods and textures. The only thing Markov cannot program into Organic is the listener's reaction. So he hopes that we come to his work with an open imagination and ready to travel - anywhere. There is nothing more exciting than music that takes you by surprise. Yet, when we ask people what kind of music they want, they will tell us only of what they have already heard. We listen to music for certitude, an order. Organic moves at a fast pace, turning quickly left, then right. In a show of compositional dexterity Markov produces a novel musical contour - which at first challenges, then rewards, and ultimately goes beyond our anticipations.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 14 October 2015 |
