(2023) Kosaya Gora - Kosogor
Review:
Kosaya Gora is the duo of Russian indie electronic artists Kedr Livanskiy and Flaty, who previously worked together on some of Livanskiy's recordings, particularly the stellar 2019 full-length Your Need. The pair recorded their debut album as Kosaya Gora in a mobile studio while traveling to several remote villages throughout Russia. Far from the deep house grooves and indie dance throwbacks of Your Need, Kosogor is a more reserved set of haunted folk and lo-fi dream pop tunes, with lyrics inspired by poetry and folklore from several different eras. The duo achieve a strangely out-of-time quality with these songs, conjuring melodies that could have been found on a mysterious private press folk record from the 1960s, but attaching them to beats straight out of a Bristol basement circa 1995. "Tell Me Dove" is a moody English-language love lament that feels broken but determined to push through and express its affection. "Muzika Voln" feels like it's drowsily living inside memories of dance parties from ages ago, hypnotically chanting its title over subtle, flickering breakbeats. "V Pole Na Vole" weaves post-punk basslines under Livanskiy's enchanting vocal harmonies, and "Te Slova" merges melancholy dream pop with ghostly folk. "Motorcyclists Die" recalls the darker, more narcotic side of trip-hop, setting tragic lyrics to heavy, trudging drums. Things get a bit gentler and more uplifting on "Voy Veter," with its hand drums and soaring vocals, but "Dust" is a mixture of clean, jazzy guitars and intoxicating, sorrowful vocals usually associated with ethereal darkwave. The final tracks are extremely lo-fi demo-like tracks that capture spontaneous moments of inspiration; of these, "Miliy" has a truly captivating melody. A departure from the two musicians' previous work, Kosogor is a wonderfully unconventional release beamed from its own distinct timeline. — allmusic
Track List:
01. Каждое новое
02. Tell Me Dove
03. Лесной царь
04. Музыка волн
05. В поле на воле
06. Empty Realm
07. Те слова
08. Motorcyclists Die
09. Вой ветер
10. Dust
11. Дороги Freestyle
12. Милый
13. Dust Instrumental (Bonus track)
14. Flute Skit (Bonus track)
Media Report:
Genre: alternative folk, dream-pop, lo-fi
Country: Moscow, Russia
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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